Department of Health and Social Care

Coeliac Disease: Primary Health Care

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS England on improving incentives in primary care to adhere to NICE guidelines on coeliac disease.

Neil O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, including guidelines for coeliac disease, represent best practice and are expected to be taken into full account by healthcare practitioners, but do not override their responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families or carers where appropriate. The Department has regular discussions with NHS England on the most appropriate form for incentive schemes within primary care. The profession, patients and the broader system will be consulted this year on incentives in primary care to inform future reform.

Rare Diseases: Genetics

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which rare, actionable genetic conditions will be included in the planned Newborn Genomes Programme using whole genome sequencing.

Will Quince: Genomics England is working with NHS England and the NHS Newborns Clinical Assurance Group to finalise the list of conditions which will be included in the Generation Study, the new-born genome sequencing programme. A provisional list of conditions is expected to be published in early October 2023.

Rare Diseases: Health Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the implementation of the (a) UK Rare Diseases Framework and (b) England’s Rare Disease Action Plans.

Will Quince: The UK Rare Diseases Framework Board provides high level oversight and coordination of rare disease policy and action plans across the four nations. National implementation and delivery groups continue to meet regularly to report on and monitor the implementation of action plans.  England’s Action Plan contains a concise set of deliverables, each with an owner, key milestones, and metrics. Progress will be reported in annual updates of England’s action plan and continual community engagement.The Department is currently working with National Institute of Health and Care Research to commission policy research which will develop metrics and methodology to measure improvement of the lives of people living with rare diseases in the United Kingdom across the four priority areas of the UK Rare Diseases Framework. These metrics will be applied to assess the outcomes of the Framework as delivered through England’s action plans.

Opiates: Overdoses

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many calls to the ambulance service in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available (a) nationally, (b) in Yorkshire and (c) in York related to people who were experiencing an opioid-related overdose.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS: Productivity

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of productivity in the NHS.

Will Quince: The most recent indicator of National Health Service productivity comes from the January to March 2023 Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) quarterly total public sector productivity measure, which is available at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/publicservicesproductivity/bulletins/publicserviceproductivityquarterlyuk/januarytomarch2023#:~:text=Public%20service%20productivity%20rose%20by%200.9%25%20in%20Quarter%201%202023,increase%20of%207.3%25%20in%202021. This measure doesn’t specifically identify health productivity but as health is around 40% of the measure, it is an indication of health productivity. The latest figures for January to March 2023 showed public service productivity was 11.6% above the average 2020/21 level suggesting NHS productivity is recovering.

Naloxone

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Naloxone.

Neil O'Brien: In June 2022, The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published a report reviewing naloxone implementation in the United Kingdom, including the effectiveness of naloxone. The ACMD is the Government’s independent expert advisory body on drug-related issues and its report highlighted the importance of naloxone, providing evidence showing an association between administration of naloxone and a reduction of opioid overdose-related deaths.The Government considers naloxone to be effective in reducing opioid overdose-related deaths and is working to widen access to, and increase the uptake of, this life saving drug.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to reform the social care charging system.

Helen Whately: As announced in the Autumn Statement, we listened to the concerns of local Government and took the difficult decision to delay the planned adult social care charging reforms.The funding intended for charging reform has been retained in local authority budgets to address current pressures and ensure that local authorities have the capacity and system readiness to deliver reform successfully.

Healthy Start Scheme

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department holds the data needed to contact families who are eligible for Healthy Start payments but are not accessing that scheme.

Neil O'Brien: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. NHSBSA is currently working with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain contact data for those eligible for but not accessing the Healthy Start scheme.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department has provided to NHS trusts to help ensure that non-invasive cancer treatments take place before patients’ conditions worsen.

Will Quince: The National Health Service continues to increase investment in minimally invasive cancer therapies and radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has sat with local systems. This is supported by the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS from 2022 to 2025.In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced that it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer, which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.

Social Services: Finance

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding allocated for social care.

Helen Whately: The Department regularly monitors the financial pressures facing the adult social care system and works closely with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and HM Treasury to ensure funding meets the needs of the sector. At the Autumn Statement we made available up to £7.5 billion this year and next to support adult social care and discharge, a more than real terms increase.We have also recently announced a further £570 million ‘Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) - Workforce Fund’ which will support increased adult social care capacity and improve market sustainability with a particular focus on workforce pay.

Ophthalmic Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing NICE guidance to ensure that psychological therapies are integrated in the eye care pathway.

Neil O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops comprehensive guidance for healthcare professionals on best practice in a defined disease area. NICE guidelines are developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and extensive engagement with interested parties, who also help determine the scope of any guideline. There is not a single ‘eye care pathway’, rather NICE has issued guidelines on several different eye conditions, including macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts.The macular degeneration guideline acknowledges the psychological impact of the condition and signposts to the NICE guideline on the management of depression in chronic health problems, which is relevant to people with all conditions, including eye conditions. The glaucoma guideline also refers to patents being given information on support organisations and groups.

Cancer: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery to NHS bodies in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Will Quince: The Department has not issued guidance on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery as it is the responsibility of National Health Service systems to follow guidance from NHS England.Recent Capital Planning Guidance from NHS England sets out the expectation that most radiotherapy equipment, particularly LINAC machines, will need to be replaced at ten years of age, to make progress on Long Term Plan priorities. The guidance states that integrated care systems need to develop replacement plans as part of their multi-year capital plans, in partnership with specialised commissioners, Cancer Alliances and Radiotherapy Operational Delivery Networks, based on an assessment of equipment age, capacity and demand, opportunities to improve access, and service risk.At the 2021 Spending Review, £12.6 billion was awarded for NHS Operational Capital for 2022/23 to 2024/25. This accounts for the need to replace diagnostic and other equipment, and the need for NHS trusts to provide for replacements is recognised in the NHS Planning Guidance.

Learning Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to include all people with a learning disability on the GP learning disability register.

Maria Caulfield: Inclusion on the learning disability register is crucial to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time. Anyone can ask to go on their general practitioner’s (GP’s) learning disability register if they think they have a learning disability. However, we know that not everyone with a learning disability is on a GP register. There is work underway in NHS England to address this issue. This includes work nationally and regionally to encourage children and young people to join the register at age 14 and access annual health checks. There is also evolving work to support people without a diagnosis of learning disability to access the register and more specialised services, which will inform guidance. Additionally, a leaflet for parents and carers was publicised in the National Health Service primary care bulletin and a bigger launch in schools is planned in September 2023 NHS England has issued guidance to support GPs to better identify people who should be on the register, including information on specific diagnostic codes, which is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/improving-identification-of-people-with-a-learning-disability-guidance-for-general-practice.

Electronic Cigarettes: Young People

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle youth vaping.

Neil O'Brien: We have regulations in place to discourage underage vaping. The law protects children through restricting sales of vapes to people aged 18 years old and over, limiting nicotine content, refill bottle and tank sizes, labelling requirements and through advertising restrictions.In October 2022, we published new content on the potential risks of vaping for young people on the FRANK and Better Health websites and we have provided input to educational resources produced by partners including the PSHE Association. We have recently added new resources for schools on the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ (OHID) Schools Zone online platform to support schools in educating children about vapes.Earlier this year, OHID launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products. The call for evidence has now closed and we will respond shortly.

First Aid: Training

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department have made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing initiatives to raise awareness of the importance of CPR training.

Will Quince: NHS England has partnered with St John Ambulance to co-ordinate skills development to significantly increase the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) by individuals in community settings. This includes a national network of Community Advocates to champion the importance of first aid training 60,000 people that will help save up to 4,000 lives each year by 2028.Those local organisations that are successful in bidding against the £1 million AED fund that has been announced will be encouraged to train or facilitate the training of the local community in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Members: Correspondence

Robin Millar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reply to the correspondence from Doctors’ Association UK on the Climate and Ecology Bill.

Will Quince: My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, replied to Doctors’ Association UK on 21 September 2023.

Kidney Diseases: Diagnosis

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for kidney disease diagnosis.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, Chronic kidney disease: Assessment and management [NG203], updated in November 2021, sets out best practice for clinicians in the diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease. The guidance covers monitoring for those patients at risk, pharmacological management and referral where appropriate. The guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng203In addition to evidence-based guidance to support clinicians to diagnose problems of the kidney, we are also working to detect people at risk of kidney disease through the NHS Health Check Programme. The Programme, which is available to people aged between 40 and 74 years old who are not already on a chronic disease register, assesses people’s health and risk of developing certain health problems. Using this information, patients are supported to make behavioural changes and access treatment which helps to prevent and detect kidney disease earlier.We are investing in new delivery models for the NHS Health Check, including nearly £17 million for the development and roll-out of an innovative new national digital NHS Health Check that will give people choice about where and when to have a check.The NHS England Renal Services Transformation Programme has recently launched a toolkit which identifies principles and actions that the health care system can take to improve the identification of kidney disease. The principles will encourage integrated care systems to focus on early identification and management of kidney disease but outlines actions developed in collaboration with clinical and operational colleagues that could help them achieve better patient outcomes and experience.NHS England is also reviewing renal service specifications. Historically, these specifications have focused on advanced disease. However, future versions will support early diagnosis and intervention.

Coeliac Disease: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of the APPG on Coeliac Disease's report on Diagnosing Coeliac Disease: Optimising the Pathway for Improved Patient Outcomes; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: We have made no assessment. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including the diagnosis and ongoing management of coeliac disease.In making commissioning decisions, we would expect ICBs to consider relevant guidance, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline on the recognition, assessment, and management of coeliac disease [NG20]. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng20

Care Workers: Recruitment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of social care workers.

Helen Whately: We are investing at least £250 million over the next two years on workforce reforms, a key objective of which is to improve adult social care workforce retention and turnover rates.In July 2023, we announced the £570 million Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) - Workforce Fund to support increased adult social care workforce capacity, improve market sustainability, and enable local authorities to make tangible improvements to adult social care services, with a particular focus on workforce pay. Local authorities can choose to use this funding to increase adult social care workforce and improve retention.We are also supporting recruitment and retention by delivering our ongoing National Recruitment Campaign; working with the Department of Work and Pensions to promote adult social care careers to jobseekers; and funding sector partners to provide support to employers and commissioners through training and guidance and supporting international recruitment.

Coeliac Disease: Health Services

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has sought meetings with (a) professional societies and (b) charities on education and training on coeliac disease in the past year.

Will Quince: The Department has not sought any meetings with professional societies and charities on education and training on coeliac disease in the past year.

Adrenoleukodystrophy and Thalassaemia: Gene Therapies

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of Bluebird Bio from the (a) UK and (b) European market on access to gene therapy treatment for people with (i) beta thalassemia and (ii) cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of Bluebird Bio from the United Kingdom and European markets on access to gene therapy treatment for people with beta thalassemia and cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. NHS England continues to make cost-effective treatments available to patients in England as determined by NICE’s technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies programmes.

Care Workers: Conditions of Employment and Pay

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to (a) increase pay and (b) improve conditions for social care workers; and if he will increase pay for social care workers in line with NHS staff.

Helen Whately: The Department has no current plans to set specific pay levels and conditions in the adult social care sector.Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central government. Local authorities work with care providers to determine fee rates, which should take account of wage costs, based on local market conditions.We recently announced the £570 million Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) – Workforce Fund. This Fund will support increased adult social care capacity, improve market sustainability, and enable local authorities to make tangible improvements to adult social care service, with a particular focus on workforce pay.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether laundry workers are eligible for the autumn Covid boosterprogramme.

Maria Caulfield: The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease (hospitalisation and death) arising from COVID-19. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a targeted approach focussed on those most vulnerable to serious outcomes from COVID-19 including older individuals and individuals with specified existing clinical conditions.On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in the autumn 2023 booster programme. This includes residents and staff in a care home for older adults, all adults aged 65 years old and over, persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, frontline health and social care workers, persons aged 12 to 64 years old who are household contacts and persons aged 16 to 64 years old who are carers.Laundry workers are not, as a group, eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in autumn. However, if an individual is a laundry worker in a care home for older adults, a frontline health and social care worker or meets any of the other criteria for eligibility set out above, they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination. The objective of immunisation of frontline health and social care workers and staff working in care homes for older adults is to protect those workers at high risk of exposure who may also expose vulnerable individuals whilst providing care.

Long Covid: Vaccination

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has received recent representations from (a) the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and (b) other experts on (i) covid-19 vaccination for the prevention and treatment of long-covid and (ii) whether the covid-19 booster vaccine should be offered to people diagnosed with long covid; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent group of experts who advise the Government health departments in the four nations of the United Kingdom on immunisations and the prevention of infectious disease. On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2023.The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness (hospitalisations and deaths) arising from COVID-19 rather than to treat COVID-19. They are not, therefore, currently recommended for the treatment of Post-COVID Syndrome, otherwise known as long COVID. The JCVI advice is to focus the offer of vaccination on those at greatest risk of serious disease or at high risk of transmitting the disease to vulnerable individuals. For this autumn the eligible groups for vaccination are residents and staff in a care home for older adults, all adults aged 65 years old and over, persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, frontline health and social care workers, persons aged 12 to 64 years old who are household contacts and persons aged 16 to 64 years old who are carers.The clinical risk groups for COVID-19 vaccination are defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s ‘Green Book’ on vaccines and immunisation Chapter 14a tables 3 and 4. Post-COVID Syndrome is not currently identified by the JCVI as one of these conditions. The JCVI considered post-COVID syndromes when developing advice for autumn 2023. It concluded that case-control studies have provided more robust data than the initial cohort studies, but the high prevalence of the reported persistent symptoms among cases and controls complicates any firm attribution of causality to the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Until better data is available, the impact of vaccination on the risk, progression, and outcome of post-COVID syndromes remains difficult to assess or quantify objectively. This has been the only recent advice received from JCVI on long COVID.To support individuals with long COVID, NHS England has set out a long COVID action plan, including establishing a nationwide network of specialist clinics. Anyone who is concerned about ongoing symptoms following COVID-19 can find information and advice on the ‘NHS Your COVID Recovery’ website.The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding future vaccination programmes in due course.

Heart Diseases: Screening

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2023 to Question 147423 on Heart Diseases: Screening, whether the National Screening Committee’s next review of the screening programme for sudden cardiac arrest will assess developments in the availability of treatments for conditions which may lead to sudden cardiac death.

Will Quince: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has started work to look at screening for cardiac conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in the young, with work currently in the preliminary stages to scope the review. As per the UK NSC’s process the review will look at addressing areas of uncertainty as identified in the 2019 review which includes the development of specific evidence-based guidelines to describe the treatment and lifestyle advice that should be offered to asymptomatic people and their families with a diagnosis of a condition that may cause sudden cardiac death. In the meantime, the UK NSC encourages researchers and stakeholders to have their work in sudden cardiac death peer reviewed and published for the UK NSC to consider its findings.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle the backlog of cardiovascular care in the NHS.

Will Quince: The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to a number of key ambitions to improve care and outcomes for individuals with cardiovascular disease including enhanced diagnostic support in the community, better personalised planning and increasing access to cardiac rehabilitation. These ambitions will support the delivery of the aim to help prevent 150,000 heart attacks, strokes, and dementia cases by 2029.To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cardiovascular disease. Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. In addition, the National Health Service will increase capacity, seeking alternative capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs.

Surgery: Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on prioritising elective surgery and appointments for children on waiting lists.

Will Quince: Cutting National Health Service waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. The NHS triages patients waiting for elective care, including children waiting for surgeries and appointments. The NHS continues to work hard to deliver the maximum amount of elective activity possible, with the clinically most urgent patients continuing to be treated first, and priority then given to the longest waiting patients. These considerations are critical in improving overall health outcomes, underpinned by new investment and new technology.

Diabetes: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase diabetes diagnosis rates in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering.

Will Quince: In 2017/18, a system of identification of those most at-risk of diabetes was launched in the Romford constituency and the London Borough of Havering. Those identified with diabetes are then referred referrals to the National Diabetes Prevention Programme.Starting in 2022, Primary Care Networks covering both the Romford constituency and the London Borough of Havering have National Diabetes Prevention Programme Champions, whose task is to monitor and improve diagnosis and referrals for diabetes performance.Latest data as of August 2023 shows local clinicians are on track to exceed last year’s number of referrals to the National Diabetes Prevention Programme.

Pain: Health Services

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help people living with chronic pain.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its guideline on primary and secondary chronic pain for people aged over 16 years old in April 2021. The guideline makes recommendations on pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments of chronic primary pain. The full recommendations are available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193/resources/chronic-pain-primary-and-secondary-in-over-16s-assessment-of-all-chronic-pain-and-management-of-chronic-primary-pain-pdf-66142080468421NICE guidelines represent best practice and health professionals, including general practitioners, are expected to take them fully into account. Guidelines published by NICE are not mandatory and do not replace the judgement of clinicians in determining the most appropriate treatment for individual patients.

Cancer: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the cancer diagnosis rate in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Havering.

Will Quince: The Department is working with NHS England to increase diagnosis rate for those with cancer across England and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis, as set out in the Elective Recovery Plan published in February 2022. In addition, the Government awarded £2.3 billion at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years, most of which will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, prioritising CDCs for cancer services.The National Health Service has implemented ‘non-specific symptom pathways’ for patients who have symptoms that do not align to a particular type of tumour, including for non-specific symptoms of pancreatic cancer. As of June 2023, there are 108 pathways currently in place with the aim to have national coverage by March 2024.To encourage people to see their general practitioner if they notice symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England runs the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaigns, which address the barriers that deter patients from accessing the NHS.

Mental Health: Ethnic Groups

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce disparities in maternal health outcomes experienced by black women and women from Asian and Ethnic Minority groups.

Maria Caulfield: The Department is committed to tackling disparities in maternal outcomes. In March 2023, NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. The plan outlines how NHS England will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised, and more equitable for all.NHSE also published its Equity and Equality guidance for Local Maternity Systems which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.

Pharmacy: Contracts

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on distance selling pharmacies that breach their NHS contract by not providing their service nationally.

Neil O'Brien: The contractual requirements for all pharmacies delivering pharmaceutical services in the National Health Service are set out in Schedule 4, Terms of Service of NHS Pharmacists of the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical) Regulations 2013. All contractors are legally required to adhere to these terms. Additionally, contractors operating Distance Selling Premises pharmacy are required to meet certain specific conditions including on availability of their services nationwide. It is for integrated care boards to take appropriate action in cases of non-compliance.

Department of Health and Social Care: Incentives

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for his core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.

Will Quince: The total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for the Department during 2022/23 was £74,325. Non-cash vouchers are awarded as part of the Department’s recognition scheme.

Health: Women

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle disparities in health outcomes for women in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Maria Caulfield: The Women’s Health Strategy sets out how the Government is tackling disparities in health outcomes for women across England. Achievements since the launch of the strategy include appointing the first Women’s Health Ambassador for England; investing £25 million funding in the expansion of women’s health hubs to improve women’s access to services and to create efficiencies for the National Health Service; reducing the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) through the launch of the HRT prescription pre-payment certificate; and creating a women’s health area on NHS.uk to bring together women’s health content and create a first port of call for women seeking information.Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services that meet the health needs of their local population.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the pass rate for the General Dental Council's overseas register exam.

Neil O'Brien: During the period 1 January to 31 December 2022, 160 overseas-qualified dentists passed its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) and were added to the register. In the most recent sitting for which the General Dental Council (GDC) has published data, 49% of candidates passed part 1 in its entirety (August 2022) and 41% of candidates passed part 2 in its entirety (September 2022). Results for the ORE are available at the following link:https://www.gdc-uk.org/registration/overseas-registration-exam/ore-resultsThe Department has met with the GDC and discussed the ways in which it can support the efficient delivery of the ORE, whilst maintaining high standards within the dental profession.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental therapists are on the General Dental Council's waiting list for an overseas register exam.

Neil O'Brien: The Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) is an exam that overseas qualified dentists must pass to register as dentists with the General Dental Council. Dental therapists are included under the umbrella of Dental Care Professionals who are not expected to take the Overseas Registration exam (ORE).

Heart Diseases: Screening

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2023 to Question 147423 on Heart Diseases: Screening, what the National Screening Committee's planned timeline is for the review of the screening programme for sudden cardiac death.

Will Quince: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has started work to look at screening for cardiac conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in the young, with work currently in the preliminary stages. A timeline of the review cannot be shared at this stage as work to scope and understand the type of review required remains to be defined. However, the UK NSC aims to keep stakeholders and members of the public informed of its work via its regular blog articles. In the meantime, the UK NSC encourages researchers and stakeholders to have their work in sudden cardiac death peer reviewed and published for the UK NSC to consider its findings.

Dental Services: Contracts

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dental practices have returned to NHS dental contracts in the last 12 months.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally.

Diabetes: Tirzepatide

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the NHS using Tirzepatide to treat patients with diabetes when Ozempic is not available.

Will Quince: The relative merits of Tirzepatide compared to other treatments in any indication is subject to appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides recommendations to the National Health Service on a drug’s clinical and cost-effectiveness, including an assessment of comparator products in its methods where appropriate. NICE published final draft guidance on 8 September 2023 which recommends Tirzepatide for treating type 2 diabetes alongside diet and exercise in adults who meet the specified criteria. Final guidance on Tirzepatide is expected in October 2023.

Department of Health and Social Care: General Dental Council

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Ministers in his Department have met with representatives of the General Dental Council in the last 12 months.

Neil O'Brien: Ministers have met with representatives of the General Dental Council in the last 12 months. Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality Rates

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle regional disparities in pancreatic cancer survival rates.

Will Quince: Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer treatment is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, which is a key contributor to reducing cancer health inequalities and improving survival rates, as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.The pancreatic cancer clinical audit, led by the Royal College of Surgeons, began in 2021, with the first outcomes expected in 2024. A key aim of the audit is to support services in the National Health Service to stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment, and outcomes for patients, including improving survival rates.To improve early diagnosis, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways (NSS) for patients who present with vague and non-site specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes symptoms of pancreatic cancer. By March 2024, the NSS programme will achieve full population coverage across England for non-specific symptom pathways as set out in the 2023/24 NHS Operational Planning Guidance.On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will cover cancer as one of the six conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England. The strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.  We published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.

Rare Diseases: Health Services

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the needs of people affected by rare conditions will be considered in the development of the Major Conditions Strategy; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the overlapping needs of individuals with (a) rare conditions and (b) major conditions covered in the strategy will be adequately met.

Will Quince: The Major Conditions Strategy will set out a vision for how systems can be better organised around patients, rather than in silos around single diseases. Support and management for people with multiple conditions will increasingly require the management of complexity and moving from a single condition approach. The National Health Service will need to adapt to manage the complexity of multiple conditions with the consequent need to co-ordinate clinical support across primary, community and secondary care.

Diabetes: Drugs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to undertake a review of guidance on the prescription of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists to patients with type 2 diabetes.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service in England, in line with its established methods and processes.NICE’s guideline on the management of type 2 diabetes in adults states that if triple therapy with metformin and 2 other oral drugs is not effective, not tolerated or contraindicated, switching one drug for a glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist should be considered for people who meet the specified criteria.NICE is currently updating the drug treatment section of this guideline, which it expects to publish in December 2024. NICE also published final draft guidance on 8 September 2023 which recommends tirzepatide for treating type 2 diabetes alongside diet and exercise in adults who meet the specified criteria. Final guidance on tirzepatide is expected in October 2023.

Health Services: Disadvantaged

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to use (a) schools and (b) nurseries to deliver health services in disadvantaged communities.

Neil O'Brien: The Government supports the use of place-based services and integrated delivery, particularly where this will improve access for more disadvantaged communities. The Government is funding 75 local authorities in England with higher levels of deprivation through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. This will ensure that parents and carers can access Start for Life services locally during the critical period from conception to age two and will make an important positive difference to the experiences of families across the country. We are also continuing to roll-out Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges across England.Health services should be available and accessible at times and locations that meet the needs of children, young people, and families. Schools and nurseries can function as particularly effective settings. However, decisions concerning the commissioning and location of provider premises are made locally, following engagement with service users and other key stakeholders.

Heart Diseases: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve cardiovascular care.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for cardiovascular care.

Will Quince: The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to a number of key ambitions to improve care and outcomes for individuals with cardiovascular disease including enhanced diagnostic support in the community, better personalised planning and increasing access to cardiac rehabilitation. These ambitions will support the delivery of the aim to help prevent 150,000 heart attacks, strokes, and dementia cases by 2029.The National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements for patients with cardiovascular disease. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement from prevention, diagnosis, treatment and through to end-of-life care.To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cardiovascular disease. Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. In addition, the NHS will increase capacity, seeking alternative capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs.

Pharamcy: Finance

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding on a real term basis his Department has provided to community pharmacies through a retained margin under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework in each year since 2014.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the cost of medicines bought by community pharmacies in the context of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework and the retained medicine margin in each year since 2014.

Will Quince: The retained medicine margin as allowed under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) funding for years 2014/15 to 2021/22 was £800 million per year; for 2022/23 and 2023/24 it is £850 million.We undertake what is known as the medicine margin survey which samples independent pharmacy contractors’ invoices to compare what they paid for products with what they were reimbursed by the National Health Service. This data is used to calculate the average amount of medicine margin retained by pharmacy contractors during the year. Where the survey shows that there has been an over or under delivery of medicine margin allowed as part of CPCF funding, adjustments are made to Category M reimbursement prices with the aim of balancing the margin to that allowed within 12 months.

Coeliac Disease: Primary Health Care

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of assisting primary healthcare professionals to carry out clinical audits for coeliac disease.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of dietetic-led services across the country for people with coeliac disease.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a public health campaign to raise awareness of coeliac disease and its symptoms.

Will Quince: We have made no assessment of the potential merits of assisting primary healthcare professionals to carry out clinical audits for coeliac disease, or the effectiveness of dietetic-led services across the country for people with coeliac disease. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including the diagnosis and ongoing management of coeliac disease.In making commissioning decisions, we would expect ICBs to consider relevant guidance, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on the recognition, assessment, and management of coeliac disease [NG20]. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng20Whilst there are no current plans to instigate a public awareness campaign around coeliac disease, to help raise awareness, NICE promotes its guidance on coeliac disease, which includes information for the public via its website, newsletters, and other media.Information for the public on coeliac disease is also published by the National Health Service and is available on the NHS.UK website.

Hospitals: Cleaning Services and Security

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help NHS hospitals with trends in the level of inflation on (a) soft service and (b) security contract costs.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS leaders on trends in the level of inflation on (a) cleaning and (b) security contract costs.

Will Quince: The Government has taken swift action in response to the inflationary pressures on the National Health Service, providing additional funding of £3.3 billion at the Autumn Statement in each of the next two years. In 2023/24 the funding issued to the NHS and reflected in the NHS payment scheme (i.e. tariff) cost uplift factor takes account of inflationary pressures in 2022/23 as well as further growth to account for expected non-pay inflation and energy price increases in 2023/24.The Department has held webinar sessions with commercial colleagues from its Arms’ Length Bodies, which includes NHS England, to share information and effective commercial practices with regards to the use of different pricing models to reduce inflation risk at point of tender and effective contract management practices to respond to the impacts of inflation. NHS England meet regularly with regions, systems, and providers to review their financial positions, which includes considerations of inflation.

Medial Treatments: Innovation

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reform the NHS pathway for procurement of innovative medical technology; and when he expects the pathway to deliver timely access to medical technology.

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the adoption of innovative medical technologies by the NHS.

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to innovative medical technologies through the NHS.

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of innovative medical technologies on the (a) Life Sciences Vision and (b) MedTech Strategy.

Will Quince: The Department’s inaugural Medical Technology (MedTech) Strategy was published on 3 February 2023, building on the broader Life Sciences Vision. We are committed to ensuring that the Department utilises innovative MedTech as implementation progresses.The MedTech Strategy includes a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining the end-to-end innovation pathway, including procurement routes, to expedite patient access to MedTech and boost adoption within the National Health Service.The Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot was launched on 19 September 2023. This new pathway will provide multi-partner support for the rapid development of innovative technologies for adoption into the NHS to address unmet clinical needs. More information on the pilot is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-innovative-devices-access-pathway-idapThe National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will undertake new Multi-Technology Evaluations of technologies in use and at a later stage in their lifecycle. These evaluations will enable comparisons between similar products and support the NHS to make better informed decisions on the right product for the right price.The Department is working closely with NHS Supply Chain and NHS England to develop a consistent methodology for value-based procurement (VBP). VBP aims to shift procurement decisions away from an emphasis on reducing product costs to working with industry to consider technologies that represent a reduction in total costs within the patient pathway. Timeframes are still being determined.The Department will consult on updating processes on applications to Part IX of the Drug Tariff to support the adoption of innovation in primary and community care.The NHS Innovation Service is providing innovators with the resources, tools and support they need to increase the chances of getting their product or idea adopted by the NHS. More information is available at the following link:https://innovation.nhs.uk/We plan to assess the impact of these initiatives through the MedTech Strategy Programme governance structures.

Health Services

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) outpatient and (b) inpatient appointments were carried out by the NHS in each year since 2010.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many diagnostics appointments were carried out by the NHS in each year since 2010.

Will Quince: The following table shows information on appointments in an outpatient setting, and visits to inpatient settings, which are termed 'admissions'. Data is not available for 2010/11 and 2011/12: YearOutpatient appointments attendedFinished Admission Episodes2012/1375,455,584 2013/1482,060,42215,462,0572014/1585,631,70115,892,4572015/1689,436,45816,251,8412016/1793,944,30116,546,6672017/1893,544,38816,622,9392018/1996,420,11417,127,4982019/2096,421,99817,202,5582020/2178,416,27412,813,1202021/2295,534,83915,979,4902022/2395,942,18916,399,596Source: Published Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS England The following table shows information on diagnostic tests, covering 15 key diagnostic tests:YearDiagnostic Tests (DM01)201014,871,766201115,596,624201216,716,609201317,615,951201418,777,918201519,985,469201620,999,112201721,842,681201822,616,427201923,619,514202018,252,314202122,319,108202223,930,5322023*15,200,973Source: NHS England Diagnostics Waiting Times and Activity July 2023 publication – NHS England Diagnostic activity data for 15 key diagnostic tests (DM01)Note: *2023 is activity up to and including July 2023.

Sodium Valproate: Packaging

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation entitled Original pack dispensing and supply of medicines containing sodium valproate, published in November 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) proposal to always dispense those medicines in the original manufacturer's packaging and (b) other proposals in that consultation on consumers.

Will Quince: The amendments to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to enable original pack dispensing of medicine and require whole-pack dispensing of medicines containing valproate were signed on 13 September 2023 and come into force on 11 October 2023.An impact assessment was published on 19 March 2023 and is available at the following link:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/1015/impactsThis impact assessment was informed by responses to the consultation that we held on the proposals and sets out the Department’s assessment of the impact of the regulation changes for original pack dispensing and whole pack dispensing of medicines containing valproate.

Defibrillators: Public Places

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 197773 on Defibrillators: Public Places, if he will provide breakdown of those defibrillators registered with the Circuit in England by (a) community centres, (b) public parks, (c) sports centres, (d) work spaces, (e) schools and (f) universities.

Will Quince: The Circuit is operated independently by the British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Health Service. The Department does not have access to the information held on the Circuit and it is therefore not possible to provide information as requested.

Health Services: Industrial Disputes

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of children whose NHS appointments have been delayed due to industrial action since December 2022.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS paediatric appointments have been cancelled due to industrial action since December 2022.

Will Quince: No estimate has been made. This information is not held centrally.

Rare Diseases: Health Services

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2023 to Question 183537 on Rare Diseases, for what reason the proposal to provide patients with alert cards was not included in the England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2023; and how his Department plans to ensure adequate co-ordination of care for people with rare conditions in emergency settings.

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2023 to Question 183537 on Rare Diseases, whether he plans to include the proposal to provide alert cards to patients with rare diseases in the England Rare Diseases Action Plan in the next five years.

Will Quince: There are currently no plans to include a proposal to provide alert cards to patients with rare diseases in the England Rare Diseases Action Plan in the next five years.In the Second Progress Report from the Rare Disease Policy Board (2018), NHS England proposed to give every patient with a rare disease an ‘alert card’, which would include information about the patient’s rare disease. This proposal to develop ‘alert cards’ was not progressed at the time due to capacity constraints.This proposal has not featured in the subsequent England Rare Diseases Action Plans (2022 and 2023), and NHS England is now focussing on delivering against the actions identified in these new plans. Progress is being made on existing actions to improve coordination of care and awareness of rare diseases amongst all health care professionals, including those who work in emergency settings.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of non-invasive cancer treatment technologies in the NHS.

Will Quince: The adoption of new treatments, including increasing the number of minimally invasive cancer treatments, into the National Health Service in England is generally the result of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance and commissioner decisions. Both NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to put in place access for any treatment that carries a positive recommendation from the Technology Appraisal programme, operated by NICE.Where treatments are approved by NICE through the Technology Appraisals programme, the NHS is required to make them available within agreed timescales, which vary by technology. Implementation of any NICE approvals will be supported by the service readiness assessment and the development of additional capacity where necessary.The NHS continues to increase investment in minimally invasive cancer therapies and radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. Since April 2022, the responsibility for investing in new radiotherapy machines has sat with local systems. This is supported by the 2021 Spending Review, which set aside £12 billion in operational capital for the NHS from 2022 to 2025.

Cancer: East Antrim

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued guidance to NHS bodies in East Antrim constituency on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery.

Will Quince: Health policy is largely devolved, and the Government therefore has not issued guidance to National Health Service bodies in Northern Ireland on the use of out-of-date cancer treatment machinery. However, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is keen to work together with the Devolved Governments to improve health and care policy, including cancer policy, across the United Kingdom.

NHS: Equality

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of creating the (a) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, (b) People and Culture and (c) People and Communities departments in the NHS.

Will Quince: NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital have legally merged into the new NHS England. NHS England is still in the process of completing the merger but is on track to achieve approximately a reduction of over 8,500 Working Time Equivalents (35%). As the Change Programme is not yet complete, costs of individual teams are not yet available.

Electronic Cigarettes: Staffordshire

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Staffordshire in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Warwickshire in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Bedfordshire in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Cumbria in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Leicestershire in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Cornwall in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Devon in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Buckinghamshire in each of the last five years.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many illegal vaping products were in Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not held centrally.

Radiotherapy: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Integrated Care Boards on commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services in Enfield North constituency.

Helen Whately: The Department has not had any direct discussions with NHS trusts or integrated care boards (ICBs) on the delegation of commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services from NHS England to ICBs across the Enfield North constituency.NHS England’s National Moderation Panel will determine how many ICBs will take on responsibility for specialised commissioning in October 2023. Following this moderation process, recommendations will be taken to the NHS England Board for final decisions in December 2023, before new arrangements go live from April 2024.This process will consider the delegation of radiotherapy commissioning for ICBs across England including across the Enfield North constituency.

Health Services and Social Services: Migrant Workers

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Indian migrant workers in the health and social care sector are paid at least the national minimum wage by recruitment agencies.

Helen Whately: For the Skilled Worker route, which includes health and care roles, international recruits must be paid at least the required minimum salary of £20,960 and £10.75 per hour, whichever is higher. The minimum salary is based on a 37.5-hour week but will need to be higher if the individual is contracted to work more hours. Failure to pay international staff the minimum salary requirement is in breach of United Kingdom immigration law. Illegal employment practices should be reported to the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority who will investigate fully.All employers of international health and care staff must follow the Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England to make sure staff are recruited ethically and are treated with respect. The code is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel-in-englandProviders should only engage with agencies and other recruiting organisations that are on the Ethical Recruiters List, which is available at the following link:https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/ethical-recruiters-listOrganisations on this list have committed to adhering to the Code of Practice.The Home Office’s sponsor licence system places clear and binding requirements and obligations on employers looking to recruit and manage overseas workers. Sponsors are monitored to ensure that workers are paid appropriately. This includes regular checks with HM Revenue & Customs. Any discrepancies found are investigated and, if appropriate, action is taken against the sponsor.

General Practitioners: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain more GPs.

Neil O'Brien: The Government remains committed to growing the general practitioner (GP) workforce and number of doctors in general practice and is determined to deliver this as soon as possible. We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.NHS England has made available several retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, and the Supporting Mentors Scheme.To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw 4,032 doctors accept a place on GP training, up from 2,671 in 2014. The number of training places will rise to 6,000 by 2031/32, with the first 500 new places available from September 2025.

Health Services: Women

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle disparities in health outcomes for women in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

Maria Caulfield: The Women’s Health Strategy sets out how the Government is tackling disparities in health outcomes for women across England. Achievements since the launch of the strategy include appointing the first Women’s Health Ambassador for England; investing £25 million funding in the expansion of women’s health hubs to improve women’s access to services and to create efficiencies for the National Health Service; reducing the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) through the launch of the HRT prescription pre-payment certificate; and creating a women’s health area on NHS.uk to bring together women’s health content and create a first port of call for women seeking information.Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services that meet the health needs of their local population.

NHS: Abuse and Crimes of Violence

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) verbal abuse and (b) physical attacks experienced by NHS staff in (i) Coventry, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England in each of the last three years; and what steps his Department is taking to protect NHS staff in those areas from such abuse.

Will Quince: We do not currently have a national mechanism to capture and report incidents of violence and aggression in the National Health Service, as data is held at a local level. The NHS Staff Survey does ask questions relating to incidences of violence, harassment, and abuse. The 2022 NHS Staff Survey indicated that 14.7% of NHS staff have self-reported that they had experienced at least one incident of physical violence from patients, service users, relatives, or other members of the public in the last 12 months. In addition, 27.8% of NHS staff who completed the survey experience at least one incident of harassment, bullying or abuse in the last 12 months from patients/service users, their relatives, or members of the public. This figure is broadly consistent across previous years. Data extracted from the Staff Survey is provided below for England, Coventry and the West Midlands. The following table shows the extracted data from the Staff Survey for England, Coventry and the West Midlands relating to Question 13a (‘In the last 12 months how many times have you personally experienced physical violence at work from: Patients / service users, their relatives or other members of the public?): 202020212022England14.8%14.4%14.7%Coventry   University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust13.9%15.3%15.0%West Midlands   Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust21.6%18.6%20.3%Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust9.2%9.7%11.1%Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust8.4%6.4%7.8%Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust16.2%14.1%14.3%Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust15.0%14.3%14.5%Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust14.8%14.2%12.7%Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust-0.0%2.7%George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust15.2%13.6%15.0%Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust13.4%11.9%11.6%Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust10.5%9.9%9.5%North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust17.3%19.0%20.0%Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust5.8%4.6%6.0%Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust3.4%4.8%7.4%Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust11.6%12.4%10.9%Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust12.0%12.9%13.8%Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust13.0%14.1%14.1%Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust7.8%6.8%8.4%South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust10.1%11.3%12.2%University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust14.3%13.8%12.9%University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust13.9%15.3%15.0%University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust16.9%14.3%16.4%Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust12.2%14.3%14.6%West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust36.3%37.4%35.1%Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust12.6%13.4%12.3%Wye Valley NHS Trust13.4%14.4%11.9% The following table shows the extracted data from the Staff Survey for England, Coventry and the West Midlands relating to Question 14a (‘In the last 12 months how many times have you personally experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work from patients/service users, their relatives or other members of the public?’): 202020212022England27.0%27.7%27.8%Coventry   University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust27.4%29.8%29.4%West Midlands   Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust20.0%15.5%17.3%Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust22.7%23.9%25.7%Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust24.0%24.7%23.6%Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust27.0%26.1%26.3%Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust22.9%26.0%23.8%Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust26.1%25.6%24.8%Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust-20.0%23.9%George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust26.6%26.7%28.1%Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust26.6%26.2%27.6%Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust23.5%21.9%21.1%North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust26.5%28.6%25.7%Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust14.9%18.0%16.4%Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust15.0%18.8%19.5%Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust26.7%25.9%25.9%Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust28.7%29.6%29.8%Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust26.2%29.5%27.6%Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust19.1%19.8%21.1%South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust25.1%28.1%25.5%University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust25.2%25.0%26.2%University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust27.4%29.8%29.4%University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust24.6%25.8%29.4%Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust30.0%29.7%27.3%West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust48.2%50.6%49.0%Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust25.6%28.0%25.2%Wye Valley NHS Trust29.1%28.3%31.0% NHS England has commissioned several data insight workstreams to better understand the current landscape of statistics, data reporting and associated challenges. This includes a national review of all available data and intelligence sources and an analysis of the costs of violence to the health care system in England and a review of the impact on the safety and wellbeing of NHS staff.Tackling violence against NHS staff is largely an employer led issue, with NHS organisations responsible for putting in place their own policies and procedures to support staff, giving them access to appropriate training and making appropriate arrangements for security.NHS England established a NHS Violence Reduction Programme in 2019, which aims to prevent and reduce violence and aggression from patients, their families and the public, and mitigate the effects of violence and abuse on NHS staff.In 2022, the Government legislated through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act to double the sentence for assaults on emergency workers to a maximum of two years.

Hospitals: Drugs

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that NHS hospital staff responsible for (a) administering and (b) prescribing medications are provided with training on (i) Parkinson's disease medication and (b) medication for other time-critical conditions.

Will Quince: Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role. NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which aims to address challenges in providing services for those with progressive neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. The toolkit provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs, such as Levodopa, in acute and community health settings.The healthcare regulators set standards of competency for prescribing practice. The standards set out the knowledge, understanding and skills required for safe and effective prescribing practice.

Antidepressants: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS patients in Newcastle who are withdrawing from prescription anti-depressants.

Will Quince: In March 2023, NHS England published “Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: framework for action”. Developed in partnership with integrated care system leads this framework sets out actions to help systems develop plans that can support people who are taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms. The actions are supporting ICSs to deliver on their 4 key objectives of:- improving outcomes in population health and healthcare;- tackling health inequalities in outcomes, experience and access;- enhancing productivity and value for money; and- helping the NHS support broader social and economic development. The actions have been co-produced with a range of stakeholders including:- patients with lived experience and groups representing them;- charities and voluntary sector organisations;- clinical experts; and- national organisations, for example the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.Under the guidance of the prescribing professional, someone who is stopping antidepressants may be advised to start or continue psychological or psychosocial interventions. Examples of such services in Newcastle include Talking Therapies (formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies), mental health support in the voluntary and community sector, online confidential advice and support, and social prescribing.

Coeliac Disease: Diagnosis

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to work with NHS England to provide pharmacists with (a) education and (b) support in the diagnosis of coeliac disease.

Neil O'Brien: There are no current plans to commission community pharmacy to support diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease. Diagnosis and the prescription of treatment is within the clinical scope of practice of general practitioners and specialist doctors. Community pharmacies are already commissioned to provide support to patients on making best use of medicines prescribed, as well as to provide advice on self-care and signpost people to other healthcare providers if the pharmacy cannot provide the necessary support or advice.

Coeliac Disease: Health Professions

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the training available on coeliac disease for (a) primary care physicians and (b) other health professionals.

Will Quince: Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role.The curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) in training, set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), includes a chapter on gastroenterology that addresses the treatment of coeliac disease.Additionally, the RCGP has made online resources available on coeliac disease and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for the disease are tested in the Applied Knowledge Test assessment for GP training. NHS England’s training programmes offer educational sessions on the RCGP’s curriculum for common gastroenterological conditions, which include coeliac disease assessment, investigation, and management.

Healthy Start Scheme

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beneficiaries in receipt of healthy start payments have no recourse to public funds but are eligible through having British children as of 19 September 2023.

Neil O'Brien: As of 19 September 2023, there are 41 beneficiaries in receipt of payments from the temporary extension to the Healthy Start scheme.

Electronic Cigarettes: Young People

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities timescales are for publishing its response to the consultation entitled Youth vaping.

Neil O'Brien: The Government will respond to the youth vaping call for evidence in the coming weeks.

Cancer: Health Services

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the impact of changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced that cancer waiting times standards would be rationalised from 1 October 2023. This followed the clinically led review of standards across the National Health Service which recommended consolidating cancer waiting times from ten standards into three.From October 2023, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients.These changes will allow a clearer focus on priorities and give clinicians greater flexibility to adopt new technologies such as remote image review and artificial intelligence, and avoid disincentivising modern working practices such as one-stop shops and straight-to-test.Alongside the updated standards, the NHS has also committed to publishing a more detailed breakdown of the cancer statistics each month, increasing the number of cancer types for which separate data are published. Statistics on performance against the old standards will continue to be collected.

Radiotherapy: Halton

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Integrated Care Boards in Halton constituency on commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services.

Helen Whately: The Department has not had any direct discussions with NHS trusts or integrated care boards (ICBs) on the delegation of commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services from NHS England to ICBs across the Halton constituency.NHS England’s National Moderation Panel will determine how many ICBs will take on responsibility for specialised commissioning in October 2023. Following this moderation process, recommendations will be taken to the NHS England Board for final decisions in December 2023, before new arrangements go live from April 2024.This process will consider the delegation of radiotherapy commissioning for ICBs across England including across the Halton constituency.

Dental Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the Health and Social Care Committee's Ninth Report of Session 2022–23 on NHS dentistry, HC 964.

Neil O'Brien: The Department is carefully considering the recommendations of the report. The Government’s response will be submitted in due course.

General Practitioners: Retirement

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP partners have retired in each of the last 10 years.

Neil O'Brien: The data requested is not held centrally.

Smoking: Health Services

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have accessed smoking cessation services in each of the last 10 years.

Neil O'Brien: Statistics on the number of people setting a quit date through smoking cessation services in each of the last 10 years are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-nhs-stop-smoking-services-in-england/april-2022-to-march-2023-q4/datasets

Parkinson's Disease: Drugs

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Parkinson UK's UK Parkinson's Audit, published in 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on the proportion of patients who received their medication on time; and if he will make a statement.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of Parkinson's UK's report entitled Every minute counts: Time critical Parkinson’s medication on time, every time, published in September 2023; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: Within secondary care, hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s disease, receive the appropriate medication on time.NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which aims to address challenges in providing services for those with progressive neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. The toolkit provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs, such as Levodopa, in acute and community health settings.

General Practitioners: Contracts

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish proposals for the 2024 GP Contract.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide funding for the 2024 GP Contract.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will use the next GP Contract to increase the range of services provided in primary care.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include measures on (a) research and (b) professional development in the 2024 GP Contract.

Neil O'Brien: The 2024/25 GP contract arrangements are currently subject to consultation with the British Medical Association. The Department will provide further feedback in due course.

NHS: Clinical Trials

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much revenue was received by the NHS from commercial clinical trial activity in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: We are unable to provide information on revenue received by the National Health Service from commercial clinical trial activity as this data is not routinely collected by the NHS.Growth and investment from commercial clinical trial activity is a key priority for the Government. The Government is working to improve transparency of and reduce negotiation time for the full recovery of costs between NHS sites and commercial sponsors, through the National Contract Value Review (NCVR). NCVR employs the 2022/23 national tariff, encompassing investigation and intervention tariffs, procedure tariffs, and the NHS England Market Forces Factor.Lord O’Shaughnessy’s report of his review of commercial clinical trials in the United Kingdom, published in May 2023, recommends measures to boost commercial trial activity. The government supports these recommendations in principle and will be publishing a full response to the review in the autumn.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on the development of the MyPlannedCare platform.

Will Quince: My Planned Care was developed in 2021 to help patients understand the average waiting time to first outpatient appointment and waiting time to treatment by speciality at the hospital to which they have been referred. My Planned Care cost £250,000 to develop and £60,000 per year to be hosted and maintained.

NHS: Agency Workers

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on agency staff in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: The following table lists the most recent published data on annual agency spend in the National Health Service:YearSpend (£ billion)2017/182.412018/192.402019/202.382020/212.442021/222.96

Health Services: Private Sector

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of capacity in the independent health sector which can be used to help reduce waiting times in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Elective Recovery Taskforce heard that service planning in the independent sector, including to help reduce waiting times, is best informed by close working relationships with local systems and confidence in patient flows. To better inform planning and capacity utilisation in the independent sector, we are working with NHS England to enhance the patient choice offer. At the point of referral, patients will be actively offered a list of providers, including local independent sector providers, which are clinically appropriate for their condition.From October 2023, all patients waiting over 40 weeks who have not had a first outpatient appointment booked, or where a decision to treat a patient has been made but the patient does not have a date for their treatment, will be able to initiate a request to transfer to another provider via the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System. This will include independent sector providers where appropriate.To reduce waiting times for diagnostic tests, NHS England recently announced 13 Community Diagnostic Centres run by the independent sector, creating capacity, and enabling treatments to be started sooner.

Haemochromatosis: Health Services

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle Haemochromatosis.

Will Quince: Genomic testing for haemochromatosis is available through the NHS Genomic Medicines Service (GMS) for patients in England who show unexplained iron overload suggestive of hereditary haemochromatosis. Any clinician who suspects haemochromatosis can order this testing via the local Genomic Laboratory Hubs. Seven NHS GMS Alliances play an important role in supporting the strategic systematic embedding of genomic medicine in end-to-end clinical pathways and clinical specialities supporting the achievement of equitable access to standardised end-to-end pathways of care, inclusive of genomic testing, clinical genetics and genomic counselling services, as well as raising awareness among clinicians and the public of the genomic testing available through the National Health Service. They drive this embedding across all providers within their geography from primary and community care to secondary and tertiary care.

Department for Education

Primary Education: Teachers

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the proportion of male primary school teachers.

Nick Gibb: The Department wants to ensure that teaching is an attractive career choice for people from all backgrounds. This includes men looking to work in primary schools.Alongside monitoring overall numbers of male teachers in the profession, our in-house teacher recruitment services, such as the Apply for Teaching Training service, generate real time data and insights into recruitment of male primary initial teacher training (ITT) candidates, along with the recruitment practices of schools and universities that offer ITT.Whilst men make up a smaller proportion of the teaching workforce than women, since 2010 there has been an increase of over 6,500 male teachers in state funded nursery and primary schools, rising from 28,180 in 2010/11 to 34,818 in 2022/23. ​​​Recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers, regardless of gender. The Department takes every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials used. The Department is also working with our Teacher Vacancy Service to ensure online case studies encourage more male primary teachers into the profession, through sharing positive and encouraging stories from teachers.The Department wants teaching to be an attractive and competitive profession. From September 2023, starting salaries will raise to at least £30,000 in all areas of the country. In fulfilling this manifesto commitment, the Department is ensuring that all teachers launch their career on a competitive starting salary.

Further Education: Regulation

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2023 to Question 195003 on Further Education: Regulation, for what reason colleges are required to produce an annual accountability statement; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of (a) strategic plans (b) financial plans, (c) operational plans and (d) annual strategic conversations for setting out colleges’ accountability duties.

Robert Halfon: The department has introduced a new accountability agreement through the Funding and Accountability Reforms. Following a consultation, the agreement is a two-part document setting out the overall expectations of providers in return for funding. The agreement forms part of the wider set of reforms to better support young people and adults to develop the skills they need to get a good job and ensure a clearer focus on the delivery of outcomes. The accountability statement encourages colleges to think strategically about how they best deliver to support local, regional and national skills needs. These strategic plans will be used to inform the Annual Strategic Conversations.The Annual Strategic Conversation is a strategically focussed conversation with college leadership that enables the department, and the Further Education Commissioner, to understand how a college is responding to the skills agenda, and to how it is meeting the needs of the learners and communities that it serves.College accounts, financial returns, and delivery reports are also regularly reviewed to understand how effectively policy intent is being delivered and support risk-based intervention, which helps target support where it is most needed.The department is currently working with colleges to simplify the system and minimise the administrative burdens, whilst maintaining confidence and ensuring public funds are used for the purposes intended.

T-levels: Work Experience

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of companies paid T-Level students who were undertaking a 45-day work placement with them in the 2022-23 academic year.

Robert Halfon: The Industry Placement Delivery Guidance states that students on an industry placement are not entitled to a salary as the placement forms part of a 16-19 education and training programme. As such, there is no legal requirement or expectation that T Level students will be paid. Should employers feel that paying students works better for their business, then they have the option to do so. This must be agreed up front. Employers may wish to refer to guidance on making payments to students. As payment is voluntary, the department does not collect data on employers who choose to pay students. Placements focus on providing students with a high-quality, meaningful experience. To support employers, we have launched a £12 million employer support fund for the financial year 2023/24 to help them cover legitimate costs they may incur when hosting placements.

Schools: Food

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to (a) review School Food Standards to incorporate any developments in dietary guidance and (b) require schools to report on food available in their schools using a mandatory reporting template as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper.

Nick Gibb: The current School Food Standards (SFS) provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure pupils in England continue to receive high quality and nutritious food. The Department continues to keep the SFS under review.In February 2022, the Levelling Up White Paper outlined a number of things the Department is doing to strengthen adherence with the SFS, including piloting work with the Foods Standards Agency, investing up to £200,000 in a pilot Governor Training Scheme, and encouraging schools to publish a school food policy on their school websites.The Department will promote accountability and transparency of school food arrangements by encouraging schools to develop and publish a policy that sets out their approach to food. The reporting would be voluntary initially, with the intention that this will become mandatory when schools can do this effectively. The Department is currently working closely with stakeholders to develop this scheme of work.

Free School Meals: Enfield North

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of extending the eligibility criteria for free school meals on  the educational outcomes of children in Enfield North constituency.

Nick Gibb: Since 2010, the number of pupils receiving a free school meal (FSM) has increased by more than two million. This increase in provision is due to the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals and protections put in place as benefit recipients move across to Universal Credit. Over a third of pupils in England now receive FSM, compared with one in six in 2010.The Department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables pupils in low income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one. The Department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for FSM. The Department continues to keep eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. The Department also continues to monitor the consequences of the rising cost of living and is working with other Government Departments to provide support to disadvantaged families.The Department monitors the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. The latest published statistics on the attainment gap are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-2-attainment (see attainment by pupil characteristics), and: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/key-stage-4-performance-revised/2021-22 (see attainment by disadvantage status).The attainment gap narrowed by 9% at secondary school level and by 13% at primary school level between 2011 and 2019. For over a decade, the Department has consistently taken a range of steps to give priority support and deliver programmes that help disadvantaged pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system, and providing targeted support where needed. The Department understands that disadvantaged children have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.At a national level, the Department delivers a number of core policies to support disadvantaged pupils including FSM, the holiday activities and food programme, where we are investing over £200m a year for the next two years, and support for 2,500 breakfast clubs and family hubs. Additionally, the Department is also ensuring better targeting of deprivation factors through the National Funding Formula (over 9% of all funding), as well as record amounts of Pupil Premium funding, £2.6 billion in 2022/23 financial year and £2.9 billion this financial year.The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) funds schools based on rates of disadvantage. Since the launch of the NTP in November 2020, more than £1 billion has been made available to support tutoring. From November 2020 to academic year 2023/24, nearly four million tutoring courses have been started, up to July 2023. By 2024, the Department will have embedded tutoring across schools in England. The Department expects tutoring to continue to be a staple offer from schools, with schools using their core budgets, including Pupil Premium, to fund targeted support for those children who will benefit.

Schools: Transgender People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on her Department's planned guidance for schools on transgender issues.

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to publish draft guidance for schools on sex and gender.

Nick Gibb: The Department has engaged with a number of stakeholders in relation to developing the guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children.The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.It is vital that the guidance published gives clarity for schools and colleges, and reassurance for parents. The Department is taking the necessary time to ensure that it reflects the best possible advice before publishing the draft.

Pre-school Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to issue guidance to early years providers on (a) term planning and (b) staff resources in advance of changes to eligibility requirements for free childcare.

David Johnston: The ‘early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities will be updated to reflect the expanded entitlements announced in the Spring Budget and will be published in early spring alongside the amended regulations coming into force.The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity, and is working closely with the sector on the implementation of these reforms.The department understands that the recruitment and retention of qualified staff is a key issue for the early years sector. The department is continuing to work with the sector to understand how it might support workforce recruitment and retention, including through data collection, user research, and feedback from an expert advisory group.In May 2023, the department launched a consultation on proposals to provide more flexibility and remove burdens within the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The consultation will inform changes to the EYFS to offer providers more choice over how they operate and make it easier for them to deliver the EYFS. The consultation closed on 26 July, and the department will be publishing a response in due course. It is our intention that any changes to the EYFS that result from this consultation will come into force for all providers across England in early 2024, giving the sector time to make use of the proposed flexibilities and ensuring they are ready to deliver the new entitlements announced at the Spring Budget.

T-levels

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the number of students (a) starting and (b) completing their T-level courses between 2021 and 2023.

Robert Halfon: On the number of student starts, the department gathers this data as it becomes available when the programme rolls out. Schools and colleges are still recruiting students for this year 2023/24, so information on how many new students are enrolled to T Levels will be available later in the autumn, and this data will be used to ensure the department’s planned activity to support providers will continue to meet their needs.Just over 10,000 new students were enrolled on T Level courses for the 2022/23 academic year, an increase from just over 5,000 enrolled for the 2021/22 academic year.3,448 students received a result for their T Level in summer 2023, an increase from 1,029 in summer 2022. T Levels will form the backbone of the technical options in the Advanced British Standard. We will build from the best. 90.5% of students passed this year and are progressing to courses at top universities or jobs or apprenticeships with leading employers. It is quite normal for students to switch to different courses after enrolment as their decisions about potential future careers change. The department continues to work with providers and other partners to understand more about the reasons for students leaving their courses and what can be done to improve retention.

Department for Education: Public Inquiries

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average time taken to respond to public inquiries by her Department was in each of the last five years; and whether she plans to introduce measures to improve response times.

Nick Gibb: By the nature of their work, inquiries deal with complex and often cross-cutting issues. It is important that the Government properly considers its response to such issues and ensures cross Departmental alignment. The Department has not issued a response to any public inquiry that has concluded within the last five years.Public inquiries are an important mechanism to allow the Government to learn lessons for the future. The Department takes recommendations from public inquiries seriously and recognises the importance of taking time to thoroughly consider its response.

Schools: Buildings

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of capital funding for the removal of asbestos from the school estate in addition to the capital funding already allocated to the school rebuilding programme.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.The Department will spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury on a range of issues.The Department is investing in improving the condition of the school estate, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. This funding allocation is informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate. On top of this, the Department will transform 500 schools through its School Rebuilding Programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues.The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, Local Authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. The Department follows expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive; as long as asbestos containing materials are in good condition, well protected either by their position or physical protection, and are unlikely to be worked on, it is usually safer to manage them in place. Condition funding allocated to the sector can be used to remove asbestos when required. The Department provides additional support on a case by case basis, where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed by responsible bodies independently.The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions.

Children: Social Services

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Transformation to children's social care to put families first, published 26 July 2023, what estimate she has made of the potential cost to the public purse of piloting the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.

David Johnston: The Stable Homes, Built on Love Strategy for Children’s Social Care, which was the Government’s response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, announced an additional £200 million for system transformation until 2024/25.The initial £200 million investment supported the urgent first phase of reform, testing and learning which interventions work, and this included a number of pathfinders covering the Families First for Children pathfinder, fostering and regional care co-operatives.Longer term funding decisions to scale up these reforms will be made in subsequent Spending Review periods.

Schools: Defibrillators

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the St John Ambulance paper entitled St John survey finds just 15% 'very confident' using a defib, published 10 June 2022.

Nick Gibb: On 17 July 2022, the Department announced that it would be providing defibrillators to all state funded schools in England that did not already have them.The Department has worked with St John Ambulance and other leading charities to revise the defibrillator guidance. This updated guidance gives schools the tools and knowledge they need to manage and maximise access to defibrillators.As part of the roll out, awareness videos have been provided, showing how simple defibrillators are to use. The Department is asking schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies.Providing defibrillators and raising awareness will help to produce a generation of young people who feel able and confident to use defibrillators.This updated guidance on defibrillators in schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

Mathematics: Teachers

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to increase the number of maths teachers in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) sixth form colleges.

Nick Gibb: Recruitment to mathematics remains challenging in both schools and colleges. However, school teacher recruitment performance against targets has increased consistently since 2019/20 in mathematics before stabilising in 2022/23.The Department has put in place a range of measures for trainees in 2023, including bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000, to encourage talented individuals to apply to train in key subjects such as mathematics.For those intending to work as mathematics teachers in colleges, training bursaries worth £29,000 each are available in 2023/24. The Department’s Taking Teaching Further programme also supports new teachers training in colleges, including teachers of mathematics.The Department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax free annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.Alongside financial levers, the Department continues to take action in attracting the best teachers where they are needed most through its teaching marketing campaign and support services for prospective trainees, and its new in house teacher recruitment journey and associated digital services.The Department is also widening the pool of people who can access teacher training for schools, across all subjects including mathematics, through programmes such as High Potential Initial Teacher Training, Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses and the Career Changers programme.

Relationships and Sex Education

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish draft guidance for public consultation on the teaching of relationship, health, and sex education in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department has brought forward the review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, including an independent expert advisory panel, which will advise the Secretary of State on the introduction of age limits for certain subjects. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-review-panel-on-rshe.The work of the expert panel will inform the public consultation, which will be published in the autumn, prior to publishing revised guidance in 2024.

Schools: Redundancy Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2023 to Question 197731 on Schools: Redundancy Pay, if she will take steps to ensure that all severance payments over £50,000 for school staff are approved by her Department or the Treasury.

Nick Gibb: The responsibilities for academy trusts on severance pay and exit packages are set out in the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH), which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academy-trust-handbook. Where the academy trust is considering a staff severance payment, including a non-statutory/non-contractual element (also referred to as a special severance payment) of £50,000 or more, the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) prior approval must be obtained before making any offer to staff. The ESFA will refer such transactions to HM Treasury. Additionally, in accordance with HM Treasury’s Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments, academy trusts must obtain prior ESFA approval before making a non-statutory/non-contractual staff severance payment where: an exit package, which includes a non-statutory/non-contractual severance payment, is at, or above, £100,000; and/or the employee earns over £150,000. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-sector-exit-payments-guidance-on-special-severance-payments.The ATH is also clear that staff severance payments should not be made where they could be seen as a reward for failure, such as gross misconduct or poor performance.The responsibility for maintained schools’ severance and exit payments sits with the school and the Local Authority.

Department for Education: Capita

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the number of (a) pupils and (b) schools whose data was affected by the cyber attack on Capita in March 2023.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the cyber attack against Capita on 31 March 2023, whether any of the Department's active contracts with Capita included penalty provisions relating to the loss of pupil data.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the cyber attack against Capita on 31 March 2023, whether her Department has received representations from Capita on the safety status of other departmental data held.

Nick Gibb: The Department is working with Capita to establish the final figure of those affected by the cyber attack, and expect their final report soon. The Department does not hold figures for schools who hold their own contracts with Capita.The Department has been, and is still being, provided with details from Capita and cannot comment on any penalties that may or may not be applicable until the investigation is complete.

T-levels: Work Experience

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding was provided through the Employer Support Fund to companies offering T-Level work placements in the period between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.

Robert Halfon: ​​The department launched the Employer Incentive Fund in May 2021, which ran until July 2022, as a short-term response to the impact COVID-19 had on businesses. Providers were allocated an amount of money based on their student enrolment figures to pay employers £1,000 for each industry placement student that they took on. In excess of 1,600 employers were supported to offer placements during the scheme. The new Employer Support Fund was launched in April 2023, for which we have made up to £12 million available to support legitimate costs employers may incur when offering placement opportunities. This support fund is only valid for placements which begin between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. ​

Apprentices

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of individuals applying for apprenticeships in each of the last five years.

Robert Halfon: ​​Apprenticeships offer a high-quality and popular route into over 680 occupations, from entry level to expert roles.​The below table shows the number of apprenticeship vacancies advertised on the Find An Apprenticeship (FAA) service in each of the last five academic years.​Academic year​Vacancies posted​​​2018/19​151,720​​​2019/20​98,530​​​2020/21​134,460​​​2021/22​189,430​​​2022/23​165,760​​​​669,450 applications were submitted through FAA in the 2022/23 academic year, and 681,090 applications were submitted in 2021/22. Due to the data protection policy in place prior to 2021/22, the department does not hold an accurate record of the number of applications submitted between 2018/19 and 2020/21.​Employers can choose to advertise apprenticeship vacancies through their own websites, recruitment agencies, or local job centre, instead of, or in addition to FAA. As a result the actual number of apprenticeship vacancies and applications will be higher.​The department is encouraged to see consistent and strong demand for apprenticeships, and are committed to supporting more employers and individuals to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.​Flexible training models have been created, like flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships accessible for all sectors, and have developed career starter standards to attract more young people to apprenticeships.​The department is also providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision, on top of our £8 million investment in 2022/23.​

T-levels

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students started T-Level courses in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 academic year.

Robert Halfon: Just over 10,000 new students were enrolled on T Level courses for the 2022/23 academic year. Schools and colleges are still recruiting students for the 2023/24 academic year, which has just started, so we will not have information on how many new students are enrolled on T Levels until later in the autumn.

Further Education: Cost Effectiveness

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the National Audit Office report on the Department's work on skills, entitled Developing workforce skills for a strong economy, published in July 2022, whether she will set out in a table the value of the Further Education Skills Index for each of the last 20 years.

Robert Halfon: The latest Skills Index publication includes data from the 2012/13 academic year to latest 2021/22. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-skills-index#releaseHeadlines-charts.The information prior to 2012/13 is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Local Skills Improvement Plans

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Local Skills Improvement Plans are based on the geography of Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of withdrawing funding for Local Enterprise Partnerships from 2024 on Local Skills Improvement Plans.

Robert Halfon: The boundaries of Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are in most cases based on the functional economic geographies represented by Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). The department has committed to review the geographies of LSIPs to ensure they align with the boundaries of devolution deals in the longer term. Further information on LSIPs, including which locations they cover, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-employer-representative-bodies/notice-of-designated-employer-representative-bodies.Employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) have now been approved and published for each area of the country. In delivering the content of the published LSIPs and keeping them under review, employer representative bodies will work with a range of stakeholders including MCAs and Local Authorities, which will take on some functions previously provided by LEPs.

Educational Psychology: Training

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many educational psychologist training places were funded by her Department in (a) Slough and (b) England in each of the last five years.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of educational psychologists providing services to children in (a) Slough and (b) England.

David Johnston: Since 2020, the Department has increased the number of trainee educational psychologists (EPs), whose places it funds, from 160 to over 200 per year, across England. A total of approximately 920 trainees have been funded since 2018. Specific figures for Slough are not available.Information on the state funded school workforce in England, including the number of EPs that were reported as being directly employed by local authorities in England, is published in the annual ‘School workforce in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.According to the School Workforce Census, in November 2022 there were a reported 2,325 EPs directly employed by local authorities in England, including two by Slough Borough Council. The number employed in the private sector is not collected centrally. The figure provided also excludes local authorities who did not submit a return, or where EP provision has been outsourced or the provision has been shared with other local authorities.

Schools: Leeds

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will set out the timeline for the security precautions put in place for schools in Leeds on 14 September 2023; what learnings her Department identified from that situation; and whether her Department will share those learnings with all schools.

Nick Gibb: On 14 September, the immediate response and security precautions in Leeds were led by Leeds City Council. The Local Authority worked with schools and the police on the response, provided updates, and reiterated robust safeguarding and safety procedures throughout the day.The Department already publishes guidance to support schools in responding to such incidents. The school and college security guidance and the emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children’s social care settings guidance set out what schools and colleges should do when faced with security related incidents, agency responsibilities, and the robust plans and measures they should have in place to protect students and staff. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-security/school-and-college-security, and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.The Department is also developing guidance for the sector in England to improve protective security and organisational preparedness, which aims to implement consistent good practice and effective response plans.Given the increasing number of malicious email threats, officials are developing proactive messaging to the sector to highlight existing advice and guidance.

New Penshaw Academy

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided additional capital funding to New Penshaw Academy in Houghton and Sunderland South constituency to improve the condition of parts of the school that were rated as being poor by the Condition Data Collection survey.

Nick Gibb: Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and staff. It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.The Department has committed £1.8 billion of capital funding for the 2023/24 financial year to improve the condition of school buildings, as part of over £15 billion allocated since 2015. In addition, the Department will transform poor condition buildings at 500 schools and sixth form colleges over the coming decade through the School Rebuilding Programme.Local authorities, larger multi academy trusts and larger voluntary aided bodies are eligible to receive an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) to prioritise on improving the condition of their schools. Smaller and stand-alone academy trusts, small voluntary-aided school bodies and sixth form colleges are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), an annual bidding round, to apply for funding for specific capital projects. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.Allocations to improve the condition of schools take into account consistent data from the Condition Data Collection (CDC1) to ensure funding is weighted to reflect the relative condition of school buildings. The Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) is collecting updated data on the condition of schools in England. Reports from the programmes are shared with schools and responsible bodies to help inform their plans, alongside their own condition surveys and checks.Schools also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or to contribute to larger projects through an annual Devolved Formula Capital allocation (DFC). Details of SCA and DFC allocations for the current financial year are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding#funding-allocations-for-the-2022-to-2023-financial-year. For previous years, they are available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/*/https:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations.Applications to the CIF are robustly assessed against the published criteria, prioritising need, and feedback is provided on unsuccessful applications. All successful CIF bids are published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund. For the 2023/24 financial year, New Penshaw Academy was eligible to bid into the CIF.Where the Department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, it provides additional support on a case-by-case basis. CIF eligible schools can apply for urgent capital support at any time in the year, if they have urgent building issues that need to be addressed.The Department also provides extensive guidance for responsible bodies to help them manage their estates effectively through resources such as the Good Estate Management for Schools guidance.

Stepney All Saints School

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of advice provided to Stepney All Saints School on 15 September 2023 in the context of information available (a) at the time and (b) subsequently; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and staff. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.Every school or college with confirmed RAAC is assigned dedicated support from our team of 80 caseworkers who work with them to assess what support is needed and implement mitigation plans that are right for them. A bespoke plan is put in place to ensure that each school and college receives the support that suits their circumstances. Project delivery teams are on site to support schools and colleges, whether that is finding short-term accommodation options or designing and putting in place structural solutions for affected spaces.The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than any other government in the UK, and the rest of the world.

Nurseries: Buildings

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to assess maintained nurseries for risks associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Robert Halfon: Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff, and it has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken. The Department knows how important it is for young people to be in classrooms with their friends and teachers, but their safety must come first. The Department has been talking to schools about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018 when it first published a warning note with the Local Government Association. The Office of Government Property wrote to all Government Property Leaders in 2019, and again in September 2022, highlighting safety alerts on RAAC and signposting guidance on identification and remediation. The Government also created a cross-Government working group on RAAC this year to collectively address the issue. Since then, Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue or monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers. The Department discovered details of three new cases over the summer, where RAAC that would have been graded as non-critical had failed. The first of these was in a commercial setting. The second was in a school in a different educational jurisdiction. It was right to carefully consider the cases and scrutinise the technical details from these. Departmental technical officials were able to investigate the situation in one case where the plank that had failed was fully intact as it was resting on a steel beam after it failed. They concluded that it would previously been rated non-critical. Ministers were carefully considering the first two cases and advice from officials when a third failure of a panel occurred, at a school in late August. The Department’s technical officials also visited this school to investigate the failure.In light of all three cases, it was right to make the difficult decision to change our guidance for education settings and take a more cautious approach within the education estate in England. Following careful analysis of these recent cases, a precautionary and proactive step has been taken to change the approach to RAAC in education settings ahead of the start of the academic year, as outlined in our guidance. Maintained nursery schools are treated the same as schools and FE colleges. In 2022, the Department’s questionnaire to all responsible bodies, including those who run maintained nursery schools, asked them to provide information on RAAC.

Home Office

al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to proscribe the (a) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and (b) al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

Tom Tugendhat: Whilst the Government keeps the list of proscribed organisations under careful review, we do not routinely comment on intelligence and security matters, including whether or not an organisation is under consideration for proscription.

Searcys: Corporate Hospitality

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Home Office procurement card spend over £500: May 2023, what was the purpose of the corporate hospitality event provided by Searcys on 1 May; and how many (a) businesses and (b) Department officials including what grades attended the event.

Chris Philp: At this hospitality event, the department hosted an official French delegation following a day of business meetings to cement and consolidate our strong working relationship with the French in tackling dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings of the Channel by migrants in small boats. In all 17 people attended, including senior UK officials and French diplomats. The hospitality extended to the French delegation on this occasion mirrors and reciprocates similar hospitality received by British delegations in France.

Refugees: Afghanistan

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 198599, if her Department will collect the data not held within the quarterly Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The data requested on arrival dates is not anticipated to be publicly released in future iterations of the quarterly Immigration system statistics. It is collected for internal and operational use only.

Immigration

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to expedite an application for leave to remain if an applicant is in receipt of local authority support; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: There is no general policy to expedite an application for leave to remain if an applicant is in receipt of local authority support. Decisions on expediting cases ahead of the published service standard are made on a case-by-case basis.

Lancashire Constabulary: Dismissal

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police(a) officers and (b) staff have been dismissed from Lancashire constabulary in the last three years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the number of police officers and staff leaving the police service due to dismissal in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesInformation on the number of police officers and staff leaving the police service due to dismissal, in Lancashire Constabulary, between the years ending March 2007 to 2023 can be found in the ‘Leavers Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1172932/open-data-table-police-workforce-leavers-260723.odsDismissals includes individuals who have been required to resign, made compulsorily redundant, or have had their contract terminated. While these figures will include dismissals for misconduct, they are not exclusively misconduct or performance cases, as they also include redundancies and contract terminations.

Sexual Offences

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage people to report incidences of sexual assault and violence.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to tackling sexual violence and wants victims to have the confidence to report these crimes, knowing they will get the support they need and that everything will be done to bring offenders to justice. In March 2022 we launched a national communications campaign, Enough, the first phase of which targeted and challenged harmful behaviours, educated young people about healthy relationships and ensured victims can recognise abuse and access support. The first phase of the campaign drove 450,000 clicks to the campaign website. We are also improving the experience of victims that report sexual violence, by investing £9.4 million in Operation Soteria to develop a National Operating Model for the investigation of rape, which all police forces in England and Wales are now implementing. We are also investing over £10 million to support police acquire the capabilities they need to analyse victim's mobile devices quickly and at a time and location convenient to them. Furthermore, the Victims and Prisoners Bill, includes measures to help ensure victims know their entitlements, from emotional support to the right to ask for special measures in court, and recognise Independent Sexual Violence Advisers in law. We are also supporting victims through the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Violence Crisis helpline, funded by the Ministry of Justice, which provides victims with ready access to specialist operators who can provide victims with vital information and emotional support. The Home Office has also doubled the value of the Sexual Violence Support Fund to £400k per annum in 2023-5.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use biometric data collection when processing asylum applications from Afghan nationals.

Robert Jenrick: We use biometrics to fix and confirm the identities of foreign nationals who apply to come or extend their stay in the UK.We check them against security and criminality databases which are available to the UK, to ensure multiple applications are not made using multiple identities, and to identify those who pose a threat to public safety, our national security, or are likely to breach our laws.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide a list split by gender of the number and proportion of biometric data exemptions that have been issued to Afghan asylum seekers since 2021.

Robert Jenrick: No exemptions exist to asylum seekers with regards to the registration of biometrics.

Refugees: Eritrea

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure the safety of Eritrean refugees.

Chris Philp: Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights state that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association. This Government fully supports these rights, including the right of individuals to protest peacefully.There is a long tradition in this country of people being free to assemble and demonstrate their views, however uncomfortable they may make others, provided they do so within the law.Of course, there is a balance to be struck. The right to peaceful protest does not extend to violent behaviour. The police have powers to deal with such behaviour and we expect them to use them where appropriate.The management of protests is an operational matter for the police. The police have a duty to ensure the protection and safety of all individuals, regardless of their background, origin or views and will take appropriate steps to do so.

Refugees: Eritrea

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to help ensure that the rights of Eritrean refugees in the UK to protest against acts of the Eritrean Government are protected.

Chris Philp: Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights state that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association. This Government fully supports these rights, including the right of individuals to protest peacefully.There is a long tradition in this country of people being free to assemble and demonstrate their views, provided they do so within the law.Therefore, should Eritrean refugees in the UK wish to protest against the Eritrean government they are well within their right to do so, as long as such protests are conducted peacefully and in accordance with the law.The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police. In certain circumstances, the police have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect those wishing to exercise their rights peacefully and to consider any potential risk to public safety.Similarly, the management of community events, including decisions on their approval, is a matter for the relevant local authority.

Dangerous Dogs

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the dog attacks recorded by the police in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects data from police forces in England and Wales on the number of offences recorded of an “Owner or person in charge allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place in England or Wales (whether or not a public place) injuring any person or assistance dog” and of an "Owner or person in charge allowing a dog to enter a non-public place and injure any person" recorded by the police in England and Wales, since 2015/16.Data provided in the table below is from 38 territorial police forces and British Transport Police in England and Wales who have been able to supply this information.YearNumber of Offences2015-1612,5092016-1715,4652017-1816,5072018-1916,7272019-2016,8122020-2118,1102021-2220,1172022-2323,641Note: excludes Devon and Cornwall, Humberside, Staffordshire and West Midlands Police Force Areas.

Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many attacks on shop workers have taken place in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: The Home Office collects and publishes data on assaults or threats on the staff of wholesale and retail premises in England and Wales as part of the Commercial Victimisation Survey (CVS). The data was most recently published in May 2023 and is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-against-businesses-findings-from-the-2022-commercial-victimisation-surveyThe CVS provides information on the proportion of premises which experienced assaults on their staff and an estimation of how frequently premises experienced these incidents. It does not provide information on the number of incidents of assaults on retail workers.

Police: Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve (a) cyber security and (b) security of personal data in police forces.

Chris Philp: The Government Cyber Security Strategy sets out how we will ensure that all government organisations - across the whole public sector - are resilient to the cyber threats we face.While individual Chief Constables are responsible for their own cyber security and the security of personal data in their own force, the Home Office is taking action to support them.This includes supporting Police Digital Service (PDS) through the National Management Centre, which provides dedicated cyber protection to police forces across the UK against cybercrime, and its Cyber Security Services, to manage the risk and impact of cyber security and information security threats for UK policing. Following recent data breach incidents, I have written recently to Chief Constable, Jo Farrell, Chair of the NPCC DDaT Co-ordination Committee, to seek assurance that all Chief Constables have sufficiently robust processes and systems in place to address any further cases of data breach.

Immigration Removal Centres: Domestic Visits

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Minister for Immigration has visited an immigration detention centre since 20 July 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The Minister for Immigration conducts visits, and host meetings, on the whole spectrum of Immigration business regularly.Information on Ministers’ meetings is released quarterly as part of Government transparency and accountability data and is available at: Home Office: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, January to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Darfur: Arms Trade

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UN arms embargo relating to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We remain strongly committed to supporting the UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which was renewed in March 2023 and complements a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place for the whole of Sudan. We are aware of reports on violations of the arms embargo and condemn any actors who are further fuelling the brutal conflict in Sudan by supplying arms to the warring parties, including into Darfur. The UK awaits an upcoming evaluation by the UN Secretary-General and Panel of Experts, which would be the most appropriate way to assess the embargo's effectiveness, given the appalling deterioration of security on the ground since the regime was renewed.

Sudan: Human Rights

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to support the establishment of an independent UN Human Rights Council mechanism to investigate human rights vio­lations and abuses com­mitted by all parties in Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is leading efforts in the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent and international Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for Sudan. As Chair of the Core Group for Sudan, we introduced the draft resolution this session which would, if adopted, established the FFM with a mandate to establish the facts, so that those responsible can be held to account. We are making the case strongly for this resolution to be adopted at this session of the HRC, if necessary, by a vote, and we will continue to do so. In addition, the UK led strong national and joint Statements at the 12 September Interactive Dialogue on Sudan and in response to the worsening situation in Sudan. We will continue to work through the Human Rights Council to pressure the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to end the violence.

Burundi

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Burundi in each financial year since 2009-10.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCO, DFID and FCDO have had no staff posted in Burundi at the end of each financial year since 2013-14. Data is not held for financial years prior to 2013-14.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support civil society in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a) strengthen democratic processes and (b) enable accountability ahead of that country’s elections.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has a long-standing commitment to supporting prosperity, development and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The UK is working with stakeholders to support the delivery of elections this year. We continue to emphasise the need for these to be free, fair, inclusive, and transparent to support long-term stability and prosperity. I visited DRC in March, meeting politicians, business, and civil society groups to discuss the many challenges DRC faces but also the enormous opportunities. I spoke to the DRC Minister of Finance on Friday 13th October at the World Bank Annual Meeting reinforcing its argument for free & fair elections later this year.

Botswana

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Botswana in each financial year since 2009-10.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Cameroon in each financial year since 2009-10.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Chad in each financial year since 2009-10.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCO, DFID and FCDO have had fewer than ten staff posted in either Botswana, Cameroon or Chad respectively, at the end of each financial year since 2013-14. Data is not held for financial years prior to 2013-14.

Southern African Development Community

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has plans to visit the Southern African Development Community.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Ministerial travel is kept under constant review. The Foreign Secretary visited the Republic of Zambia, a member of the Southern African Development Community, on 2-3 August 2023.

Central African Republic

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in the Central African Republic in each financial year since 2009-10.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCO, DFID and FCDO have never had a post located in Central African Republic.

Iraq: Kurds

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the (a) political and (b) fiscal relationships between the regional and federal governments in the Kurdistan region and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: The UK supports a secure, stable, and thriving Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) within a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. Ministers and senior UK officials have advocated repeatedly for unity and increased cooperation within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). We continue to encourage cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve outstanding issues where they exist, including around budget, salary payments, security cooperation and the oil and gas sector. The UK is supporting Iraq as it undertakes the bold long-term reforms needed to put Iraq's economy and society on a stable long-term footing.

Angola

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Angola in each financial year since 2009-10.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCO, DFID and FCDO have had fewer than ten staff posted in Angola at the end of each financial year since 2013-14. Data is not held for financial years prior to 2013-14.

Darfur: Crimes against Humanity

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the International Criminal Court's resources for (a) investigations of potential genocide, war crimes and or crimes against humanity in Darfur in 2023 and (b) other investigations in the (i) 2023, (ii) 2024 and (iii) 2025 financial year.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We condemn the direct targeting of civilians and violence against specific groups in Darfur. On 13 July, the UK expressed its apprehension at the UN Security Council meeting regarding the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation on Sudan and the trajectory of the conflict in Darfur. We welcomed the ICC Prosecutor's statement that current events in Darfur are in the purview of the Court. On 9 August, at the UK's request, an open briefing on the situation in Sudan was held at the UN Security Council. The UK joined Council members in expressing our apprehension at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and called for an immediate end to hostilities. We will continue to raise human rights violations in international fora. No direct assessment have been made over the adequacy of the ICC's resources. The UK have been a consistent funder of the ICC.

Sudan: UN General Assembly

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what bilateral meetings at which Sudan will be discussed each Minister has planned for the UN General Assembly 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: UK ministers attended the UN General Assembly in September, using every opportunity to condemn the atrocities taking place in Darfur. Ministers raised Sudan in bilateral meetings with international and regional partners and States, including with Egypt and South Sudan, to pay tribute to Sudan's neighbouring countries for their generosity in accepting refugees and making consistent calls for urgent action and coordination of regional initiatives. The UK brought together Quad members (Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK, US) to reaffirm our shared interest in resolving the Sudan conflict. At a humanitarian event dedicated to Sudan, UK ministers addressed the worsening humanitarian crisis, taking the opportunity to publicly condemn the unconscionable attacks against humanitarian workers and to call for the urgent lifting of bureaucratic impediments, including delays in issuing visas, travel permits and clearances to aid workers.

Afghanistan: Chevening Scholarships Programme

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure Chevening scholarships remain accessible to people in Afghanistan.

Leo Docherty: The application window for Chevening Scholarships is open to Afghans resident outside Afghanistan in a country eligible for overseas development aid until 7 November. Due to risks that are outside our control, we are not in a position to offer scholarships to Afghans resident in Afghanistan for academic year 2024/25.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Human Rights

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with President Kagame and Foreign Minister Biruta in Rwanda on the human rights abuses committed by the M23 armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government has a long-standing commitment to supporting prosperity, development, and stability in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We regularly raise the conflict in eastern DRC with the governments of DRC and Rwanda, where we urge all parties to deliver on their commitments, agreed through the Nairobi and Luanda processes, including the withdrawal by armed groups including M23. We will continue to work with members of the international community to bring an end to the violence, human rights abuses and the violations of international humanitarian law documented by armed groups including M23. I met with President Kagame and Foreign Minister Biruta during my visit to Rwanda in late August, where I encouraged de-escalation and emphasised the need for a peaceful political solution.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) his Department and (b) the Commonwealth of Nations mediating in the conflict in Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is playing a significant role in diplomatic efforts for peace in Sudan. We are working with a range of partners, including counterparts from Quad (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, UK, US), African and European countries, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union (AU) and the UN, to get the warring parties back to the negotiating table and end hostilities in Sudan. The UK continues to advocate for a return to a civilian-led government and the need for a coordinated and urgent response to resolve the crisis in Sudan, which the international community can get behind. It is essential that Sudan's civilians - civil society, women, youth, Resistance Committees - are represented in negotiations about their country's future, and their voices listened to.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to engage with (a) the Permanent Representatives to the UN of (i) Gabon, (ii) Ghana and (iii) Mozambique, (b) other UN Security Council member states, (c) the African Union and (d) other stakeholders on support for a UN Security Council resolution on Sudan; and whether he is taking steps to encourage the inclusion of a request for the UN Secretariat to publish a statement on options for civilian protection in Sudan in such a resolution.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps to support the production of an options paper on civilian protection in Sudan by the UN Secretary-General; and whether he has held meetings with (a) the UN Secretariat and (b) international counterparts on the potential merits of such a paper.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has been working closely with our African partners, including on the UN Security Council, and the African Union (AU), since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan. We support AU led efforts to try and secure a peace process and end hostilities in Sudan. The UK is also a member of the African Union-led Core Group which is working towards inclusive regional and international action to secure a viable peace process. We are working with a range of partners, including counterparts from Quad (Saudi Arabia, UAE, US, UK), African and European countries, The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, AU and the UN, to end to the hostilities. As penholder on Sudan at the Security Council we work in close partnership with the UN, including on how the UN can best support the Sudanese people. We will work in partnership on the upcoming mandate renewal for the UN mission (UNITAMS).

Sudan: Arms Trade

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to expedite his Department’s (a) mapping and (b) sanctioning of international flows of arms and money in Sudan.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: There is a UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur, which we renewed in March 2023. There is also a longstanding bilateral UK arms embargo in place from the existing EU arms embargo on the whole of Sudan from 1994, operating under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act (2018). These regimes have been used to constrain the flow of weapons into the country and support efforts to stop those who pose a threat to stability in Darfur. The UN Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime on Darfur will be reviewed by September 2024.In response to the ongoing conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan, on 12 July, the Minister for Development and Africa announced a package of six sanctions under the UK's Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and a further five as part of a wider package against Wagner activities in Africa. We do not speculate on future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their effectiveness.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to encourage the African Union’s Expanded Mechanism for the Resolution of the Sudan Conflict to take into account the views of (a) Sudanese civil society and (b) the Sudanese diaspora in the UK.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is working with regional and international partners to end the hostilities in Sudan. We continue to push for urgently needed humanitarian access, particularly in Khartoum and Darfur, and to secure a viable peace process. This includes support for the emergence of an all-inclusive civilian and political platform. We support the African Union's role in pushing for a resolution of the conflict in Sudan, including the establishment of an 'Expanded Mechanism' aimed at coordinating the process. It is essential that Sudan's civilians, civil society, women, youth, and Resistance Committees, are all represented in negotiations about their country's future. This is a message that we have highlighted with our Sudanese and international partners. We will continue to stress the need for the people of Sudan, rather than its soldiers, to play the leading role in their country's future, including at any upcoming meetings of the AU-convened 'Core Group' of which the UK is a member.

Commonwealth: Flags

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to permanently fly the Commonwealth flag on his Department's building on Whitehall.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to fly the Commonwealth flag alongside the Union Flag at British (a) high commissions, (b) embassies and (c) missions.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) flies the Commonwealth flag on its UK estate for the week starting the second Monday in March to celebrate Commonwealth Day, and our Posts in Commonwealth countries can do the same where the Post has sufficient flagpoles to do so. It is not our practice to fly, on a permanent basis, the flags of organisations of which the UK is a member. FCDO flag policy is reviewed on an annual basis.

Colombia: Gender Based Violence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps with international counterparts to help tackle gender-based violence in Colombia.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support the adoption of a national action plan for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in Colombia.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to supporting the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in Colombia. The UK has provided support to the development of Colombia's first WPS National Action Plan through co-funding consultation workshops with women's rights organisations across the country. We will continue to collaborate with the Colombian government to support implementation.Colombia is also a FCDO Human Rights Priority country and focus country for the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Strategy. The Colombian Government is a vice-chair of the UK-founded International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. At the UN Security Council, we consistently highlight gender issues related to the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement.

Colombia: Equality

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is providing support to Colombia's recently established Ministry of Equality and Equity.

David Rutley: We welcome the creation of the Ministry for Equality and stand ready to further support the Vice President, in her capacity of Minister for Equality, and her Vice Ministers, as the new Ministry takes shape. During her visit to Colombia in April, the UK's Global Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, met with Colombia's Presidential Counsellor for Women's Equality to discuss advancing the rights of women and girls. Since 2015, the UK has committed £79 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) to support the peace process and improve stability and security in Colombia.

Canada: India

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in Canada on potential activity by agents of the Republic of India (i) in Canadian territory and (ii) towards Canadian nationals.

David Rutley: The Prime Minster spoke to Prime Minister Trudeau on 6 October about the serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament and the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with his Canadian counterpart. All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law. It is important Canada's investigation runs its course, with the perpetrators brought to justice. We have raised this matter with the Government of India and we encourage them to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in that country’s House of Commons on 18 September 2023 on Mr Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

David Rutley: The Prime Minster spoke to Prime Minister Trudeau on 6 October about the serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament and the Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with his Canadian counterpart. We have raised this matter with the Government of India and we encourage them to cooperate fully with the investigation. It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities.

Russia: Sanctions

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of extending sanctions on Russia to include consumer goods.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Sanctions are carefully targeted to maximise impact while minimising unintended consequences, including for ordinary Russians. Since April 2022, the export of luxury goods to or for use in Russia is prohibited. This ban ensures that oligarchs and other members of the elite, who have grown rich under President Putin's reign and support his illegal invasion, are deprived of access to luxury goods. Sanctions are carefully targeted to increase pressure over time and will be maintained to secure peace. We are not able to comment on potential future sanctions as this may lessen their impact.

Colombia: Coca

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of coca substitution programmes in Colombia on levels of (a) coca production and (b) alternative economic opportunities for local coca growers in that country.

David Rutley: Colombia remains one of the largest producers of coca, which continues to fuel violence in some areas of the country as illegal armed groups fight for control of territory. We commend the Colombian Government's commitment to tackling the root causes of insecurity and to developing sustainable livelihoods for those living in conflict-affected areas. We remain committed to working with Colombia and international partners, including through our contribution to a multi-donor $2 million project for crop substitution and food security.

Colombia: Violence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with their counterparts in Colombia on the adoption of collective and comprehensive protection measures for communities experiencing violence by armed groups in that country.

David Rutley: During his visit to Colombia last May, the Foreign Secretary met with the Colombian Foreign Minister to discuss our ongoing support to peace and security in Colombia. Through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which has committed £79 million since 2015, the UK is helping the Colombian Government to strengthen the institutional capacity of the National Protection Unit and civil society organisations involved in the security and participation of communities in conflict-affected areas.

Japan: Radioactive Waste

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held recent discussions with his Japanese counterpart on the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear site.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On 18 September, the Foreign Secretary discussed the treated water discharge with Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Yoko Kamikawa, at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK's full support for Japan's actions, confirmed the UK's confidence in the science underpinning the treated water discharge and the UK's full satisfaction with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) judgements regarding monitoring and safety of the discharge.

Colombia: Armed Forces and Police

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has provided (a) financial and (b) technical assistance to the (i) police and (ii) military in Colombia in the last 12 months.

David Rutley: Since 2015, the UK has committed £79 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) to support the peace process and improve stability and security in Colombia.  As part of the CSSF funding in Colombia, the UK launched a three year, £2.1 million Police Innovations for Stabilisation in Colombia Programme (SCIP) in 2020, which is helping the transformation of the Colombian National Police.

Colombia: Police

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department (a) is providing and (b) plans to provide support to Colombia to help enable (i) structural reform of the National Police, (ii) a review of the protocols for the use of force and weapons and (iii) greater protection for the right to peaceful assembly.

David Rutley: Whilst structural reform and internal reviews are a matter for the Colombian Government, we are clear that we support the right of all Colombians to protest peacefully, and that the right to peaceful assembly and association must be guaranteed. Through the Conflict, Security, and Stabilisation Fund (CSSF) in Colombia, the UK launched a three year, £2.1 million Police Innovations for Stabilisation in Colombia Programme (SCIP) in 2020, which is helping the transformation of the Colombian National Police. The SCIP aims to contribute to the modernisation of the police service by scaling up and improving police practices with a preventive approach, focusing on i) building links and trust with communities to improve relations and reduce conflict; ii) putting human rights first when managing social tensions and preventing violence; iii) developing and implementing strategies for tackling and preventing gender-based violence.

Eritrea: Violence

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support people in Eritrea following the recent violence in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Whilst we are unaware of reports of recent violence, the UK has consistently highlighted human rights issues in Eritrea including through the UK's Human Rights Ambassador.

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to increase official development assistance funding for (a) water, (b) sanitation and (c) hygiene infrastructure in healthcare facilities to help tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK remains committed to supporting access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including in healthcare facilities. The UK-funded Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition supported 14,800 facilities with WASH supplies and trained 460,000 health workers on hygiene improvements. We also help rally international attention on antimicrobial resistance through the global taskforce on WASH in Healthcare Facilities, working with World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other partners. The Statistics on International Development publication confirmed that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend on WASH totalled £46 million in 2022. Multilateral spend on WASH was £63 million in 2021. At this stage we are unable to confirm FCDO's future allocations to WASH.

Ethiopia: Human Rights

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had (a) with his counterparts in the (i) European Commission and (ii) European Union member states, (b) with other international counterparts, (c) with the (A) African Union and (B) Intergovernmental Authority on Development and (d) with the UN Secretariat on accountability for potential war crimes committed in Ethiopia in relation to (1) the renewal of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia’s mandate at the UN Human Rights Council, (2) monitoring of all Articles of the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and (3) in relation to monitoring and public reporting of the human rights situation by UNOHCHR officials at the level of the Human Rights Council.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We regularly raise human rights issues, including sexual and gender-based violence and media freedom, in our interactions with Ethiopian interlocutors and international partners. The UK has repeatedly called for those responsible for atrocities in Ethiopia to be held to account. The UK was strongly supportive of the establishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), and the renewal of its mandate at the Human Rights Council's 51st Session. ICHREE's mandate will end at the end of the present session of the Human Rights Council as the European Union, as the penholder, did not to present a resolution to renew the mandate. The UK will continue to support efforts to promote cooperation between the Government of Ethiopia and the international community on human rights, and particularly over the robust implementation of its Transitional Justice Policy, to ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and to ensure the effective and full implementation of the Tigray peace agreement.

Ethiopia: Homicide

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Ethiopia on killings of civilians in the Amhara region; and what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the (a) independence and (b) progress of investigations into recent killings of civilians in that region.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We regularly raise human rights issues in our interactions with Ethiopian interlocutors. In August, the UK's ambassador to Ethiopia met with the Regional President of Amhara and highlighted the need to ensure the protection of civilians and meaningful dialogue to end hostilities. A £4.5 million package of UK support, via the Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme, is working to build the investigative capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission among other things. The UK is ready to support a peaceful resolution to Ethiopia's conflicts.

Ethiopia: Human Rights

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to ask for the renewal of the remit for the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK was strongly supportive of the establishment of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE), and the renewal of its mandate at the Human Rights Council's 51st Session. ICHREE's mandate will end at the end of the present session of the Human Rights Council as the European Union, as the penholder, did not to present a resolution to renew the mandate. The UK will continue to support efforts to promote cooperation between the Government of Ethiopia and the international community on human rights, and particularly over the robust implementation of its Transitional Justice Policy, to ensure accountability for atrocities and human rights violations and to ensure the effective and full implementation of the Tigray peace agreement.

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implication for his policies of the joint statement of 15 September 2023 by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the Pharmacists’ Defence Association entitled Conflict, natural disaster and the risk of rising resistance.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The joint statement was right to highlight antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a pressing global challenge, including in conflict-affected countries and natural disasters. The FCDO champions action through its diplomacy and bilateral and multilateral investments to better prevent, detect and respond to AMR, supporting stronger health and water, sanitation and hygiene systems and tackling infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2022, the UK provided £1.1 billion in humanitarian aid, including support for Emergency Medical Team deployment. We look forward to engaging domestic and global stakeholders to identify joint action to tackle AMR at the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR in 2024.

Benin

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Benin in each financial year since 2009-10.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Burkina Faso in each financial year since 2009-10.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) FCO, (b) DFID and (c) FCDO personnel were posted in Cabo Verde in each financial year since 2009-10.

David Rutley: FCO, DFID and FCDO have never had a post located in Benin, Burkina Faso or Cabo Verde.

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) material and (b) financial support his Department has offered to countries affected by (i) armed conflict and (ii) natural disasters to help control and contain the spread of (A) drug-resistant and (B) other infections in the last 12 months.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Through a combination of diplomacy and funding, the FCDO works bilaterally and with multilateral agencies to support countries affected by conflict and natural disasters. Our work strengthening health and water, sanitation and hygiene systems supports countries to be better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks and tackle antimicrobial resistance. Our humanitarian response includes deployment of Emergency Medical teams, supporting WHO (World Health Organisation) and UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) and bolstering national responses with key medical supplies, such as recent deployment to Malawi to combat cholera, or responding to the previous Ebola outbreak in Uganda. In 2022, the UK provided £1.1 billion in humanitarian aid.

Albania: Foreign Relations

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he had with the Albanian Prime Minister on (a) Ukraine, (b) serious and organised crime and (c) illegal migration while attending the UN General Assembly.

Leo Docherty: The Foreign Secretary met Albanian Prime Minister Rama on 19 September in New York. They recognised the strength of the current UK-Albania partnership and the progress we have made on shared priorities. This includes migration, with over 3,500 immigration offenders having been returned to Albania since our Joint Communique was signed in December, and a 90 per cent reduction in the numbers of Albanians arriving illegally. The Foreign Secretary welcomed Albania's leadership on European and international security issues through NATO and the UN Security Council, including in support of Ukraine.

Eritrea: Politics and Government

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held recent discussions with the Eritrean embassy in London on recent clashes between Eritrean Government supporters and opponents.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Recent events involving members of the Eritrean community in the UK have, on occasions, led to public disorder and arrests. Ahead of a planned and subsequently cancelled event in the London Borough of Harrow in July, FCDO officials and officers from the Metropolitan Police met with staff from the Eritrean embassy to discuss security plans and arrangements. The FCDO plus relevant police forces and councils will engage with the UK Eritrean community and Eritrean embassy ahead of other events.

Nagorno Karabakh

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK supports a UN fact-finding mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Leo Docherty: It is vital that international humanitarian organisations have independent access into Nagorno-Karabakh, so they can assess humanitarian need and respond appropriately. We therefore welcome Azerbaijan's decision on 1 October to allow UN agencies into Nagorno-Karabakh, to complement ongoing efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Foreign Influence Registration Scheme

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

Leo Docherty: As per the Integrated Review Refresh (2023), the United Kingdom is developing "new levers to adapt to the changing threat environment", to increase the costs of aggression by hostile actors. The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) is one such lever and will promote greater transparency and assurance around the activities of foreign powers or entities. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office officials will work with the Home Office and other government departments on its implementation, which I [Minister Docherty] follow with interest, as I will its operation once live next year.

Energy Supply: International Cooperation

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the signing of a trilateral energy agreement between (a) Greece, (b) Cyprus and (c) Israel; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of this agreement on regional energy security.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government is committed to working alongside our partners to protect Europe's energy security. We welcome regional agreements, including this trilateral agreement, which support this aim.

Russia: Diplomatic Service

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to respond to the travel restrictions on British diplomatic staff posted to Russia.

Leo Docherty: In response to Russia's decision to impose travel notification requirements on British diplomats in Russia, we have introduced commensurate reciprocal travel notification requirements for Russian diplomats accredited to the Russian Embassy in London and the Consulate-General in Edinburgh. This is in line with the concept of reciprocity in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Armenia: Azerbaijan

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Leo Docherty: The UK continues to monitor the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the significant refugee flows from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia. On 29 September, the UK Government announced that it is giving £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Alongside contributions from others, this will help fund life-saving medication, healthcare, and other essential support to those affected by the recent conflict. We continue to urge both Armenia and Azerbaijan to do all they can to reduce tensions and avoid further escalation, and to return to substantive peace negotiations. We will continue to monitor the situation, in close cooperation with our international partners.

Iraq: Kurds

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the (a) Federal Government of Iraq and (b) Kurdistan Regional Government on the operation of the 2005 Iraqi constitution.

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the (a) Federal Government of Iraq and (b) Kurdistan Regional Government on the implementation in (i) Kirkuk and (ii) other disputed territories of Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi constitution.

David Rutley: The UK regularly engages with leaders of Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), including during the recent visit of the Security Minister, Tom Tughendhat, in August. Following the incident in Kirkuk the British Embassy in Iraq met a range of Iraqi counterparts and continues to encourage cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve outstanding issues. The UK supports all efforts to ensure a secure, stable and thriving KRI exists within a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. The British Consulate General Erbil regularly meets with stakeholders from the disputed territories to understand the situation on the ground and how the disputed nature of these areas is causing challenges for Iraqi citizens. The UK hopes to see provincial council elections go ahead peacefully on 18 December, following the unrest in early September.

Kurds: Foreign Relations

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's bilateral relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 130041 on Iraq: Kurds, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure there is a strong and successful Kurdistan region within Iraq.

David Rutley: The UK supports a secure, stable and thriving Kurdistan Region in Iraq (KRI) within a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. Through our diplomatic engagements, we continue to encourage all parties to work together to resolve outstanding regional issues. The importance of our strong and strategic partnership with the KRI was further reinforced during visits by the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon in March, and Security Minister Tom Tughendhat in August this year. Through various funding mechanisms, including Official Development Assistance, and the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, the UK continues to support efforts to tackle underlying drivers of instability across Iraq and KRI.

Green Without Borders: Sanctions

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the United States imposing sanctions on the Lebanese organisation Green Without Borders.

David Rutley: The UK has long condemned the destabilising activities of Hizballah and its affiliates, including Green Without Borders, in the region. Hizballah's activities, particularly along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon, pose a grave threat to civilians living in the vicinity, as well as UN peacekeepers in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). At this time of heightened tension in the region, there is an urgent need for calm along the Blue Line. We do not speculate about future UK sanctions designations.

Iraq: Kurds

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps his Department has taken to help encourage the resolution of disputes between the federal government in Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

David Rutley: The UK supports a secure, stable and thriving Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) within a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. Ministers and senior UK officials have advocated repeatedly for unity and increased cooperation within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). We continue to encourage cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve outstanding issues where they exist, including around budget, salary payments, security cooperation and the oil and gas sector. The UK is supporting Iraq as it undertakes the bold long-term reforms needed to put Iraq's economy and society on a stable long-term footing.

Libya: Politics and Government

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international partners to help re-establish democratic institutions in Libya.

David Rutley: The devastating floods underscore the unsustainability of the political status quo. The UK is fully committed to supporting the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Bathily's efforts to drive forward a UN-facilitated, Libyan-led political process. The UK is using its position as United Nations Security Council (UNSC) penholder to work with the council and engages regularly with international partners in support of the SRSG's efforts. British Embassy Tripoli engages closely with Libyan interlocutors to encourage them to work constructively with the SRSG as he seeks to facilitate a political agreement that addresses the underlying issues preventing elections.

Myanmar: Human Rights

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his international counterparts on the (a) detention of political prisoners and (b) human rights situation in Myanmar.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Although the UK has no political engagement with the military regime, the UK regularly raises the human rights situation in Myanmar with international partners and in multilateral fora. We continue to condemn the ongoing human rights violations by the military regime and call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including in the landmark United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, which the UK coordinated in December 2022. The UK reiterated this demand in the G7 Leader's statement in May. The UK has co-sponsored a number of UN Human Rights Council resolutions, including one in April, which condemned the military regime's human rights violations. On 17 October, I (Minister Trevelyan) plan to join and co-convene a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) High Level Meeting on Rohingya Refugees, where I will reiterate UK support for the Rohingya community and the need for sustainable solutions to improve the conditions in Rakhine State.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Pacific

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 102932 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Pacific, how many (a) UK-based and (b) locally recruited staff work in the Pacific Development Unit.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Pacific Development Unit is led from the British High Commission in Canberra, with staff also located in the British High Commission Wellington and the British High Commission Suva.Across these locations, 0-9 UK based staff and 0-9 country-based staff work within the Pacific Development Unit.FCDO headcount data is provided in bands in line with FCDO headcount data release policies.

UN Security Council

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of President Biden's proposals for expanding the United Nations Security Council.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government has a long-held position of supporting reform of the Security Council, to make it more representative of the world today. We support the expansion of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. This includes permanent African representation on the Council as well as the creation of new permanent seats for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil. We also support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership. The Foreign Secretary reiterated this position as one of his key priorities during his speech on multilateral reform at Chatham House in June 2023.

Niger: Uranium

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with EDF on the situation in Niger.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK has met with a range of international partners to discuss the situation in Niger since the military takeover on 26 July. We continue to use our diplomatic presence to engage with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), its member states and other key African partners to encourage a regionally led, peaceful outcome to the crisis. To our knowledge, EDF (Électricité de France) has not requested a meeting with FCDO to discuss Niger, although we do regularly engage with French Government counterparts.

Department for Transport

Parking: Disability

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will issue guidance to local authorities recommending a minimum proportion of accessible parking spaces (a) in local authority car parks and (b) on high streets.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department has already published guidance for local authorities on provision of accessible parking spaces in off-street car parks in Inclusive Mobility: A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure. This is available free to download atwww.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mobility-making-transport-accessible-for-passengers-and-pedestrians Provision of on-street disabled parking bays is a matter for local authorities. There are no recommended minimum proportions, it is for them to determine what provision is appropriate based on local circumstances.

Highway Code

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of understanding among road users of the changes to the Highway Code introduced in January 2022.

Mr Richard Holden: The January 2022 changes to The Highway Code to help improve road safety for people walking, cycling and horse riding have been communicated via: A factual awareness-raising campaign in February and March 2022, alerting road users to the changes as they came into effect. Further information can be found here: www.think.gov.uk/campaign/highway-code-changes/ .A behaviour change campaign which has run in summer 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Further information can be found here: www.think.gov.uk/campaign/travel-like-you-know-them/. The campaign has been supported by significant media spend, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising. - The percentage of road users reporting to know either a little or a lot about the Highway Code changes increased from 36% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022, with 83% of road users having heard of the changes by August 2022.- The percentage of people who agreed that motor vehicles do have priority on the roads fell from 68% in January 2022 to 61% in August 2022.- 78% of road users correctly identified the need for a 1.5m gap when passing cyclists in January 2022, rising to 84% in August 2022. Understanding that cyclists may ride two abreast also increased from 30% to 46%. The percentage of drivers reporting that they always leave a 1.5 metre gap when passing cyclists rose from 50% in January 2022 to 58% in August 2022.- Recognition among the target audience of at least one of the campaign assets was 57% at Phase 1 and 53% at Phase 2. Of the respondents that recognised the 30 second hero assets from Phase 2, nearly nine in ten (84%) said they had done something as a result.

National Highways: Compensation

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average time taken by National Highways to administer a red claim for compensation in each of the last three years.

Mr Richard Holden: Min Days - Received to Decision (Days) By Financial Year2020/20212021/20222022/20232023/2024Other5211Vehicle Damage1211 Longest time to make decision - Received to Decision (Days) By Financial Year2020/20212021/20222022/20232023/2024Other935927727650Vehicle Damage838423380146 Average time to make decision - Received to Decision (Days) By Financial Year2020/20212021/20222022/20232023/2024Other85916066Vehicle Damage76452955Overall77483155

Motorways: Speed Limits

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2023 to Question 196948 on Motorways: Speed Limits, whether the Chief Scientific Adviser gave advice to his Department on the potential effect of the 60mph speed limit trial on motorways on air quality.

Mr Richard Holden: National Highways did not engage with the Chief Scientific Adviser on the research into changes in car and van emissions under different driving conditions.

Aviation: Nature Conservation

Robert Courts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Habitats Directive on airfield planning applications.

Jesse Norman: The Government is supportive of airport growth where it can be delivered within its environmental obligations. Every development proposal should be judged by the relevant planning authority, taking careful account of all relevant considerations, including environmental impacts and proposed mitigations. Airport planning applications need to take into account the European Commission Habitats Directive where they could lead to significant impacts on areas of nature conservation, which could include a Habitat Regulations Assessment of the implications of the plans for that site.

Active Travel: Leicestershire

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to support active travel in (a) Leicestershire and (b) Bosworth during the (i) covid-19 pandemic and (ii) subsequent years to 2023.

Jesse Norman: In 2020, as part of the Emergency Active Travel Fund and Active Travel Fund 2, Leicestershire County Council was awarded £1,235,164 in capital and revenue funding to take forward their active travel schemes. In January 2023, the Government awarded Leicestershire County Council £191,787 of Capability Funding for 2022-23 to carry out community engagement activities, develop infrastructure plans and designs, undertake public consultation, and collect evidence. This builds on the £168,500 that Leicestershire was awarded in Capability Funding in 2021-22.  ATE has assigned all authorities in England, excluding London, a Regional Manager and is committed to working closely with local authorities to help support active travel programmes and capability across England.

High Speed 2 Line: Greater London

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking in collaboration with Transport for London to ensure adequate public transport links between Old Oak Common station and central London, in the context of the HS2 terminus.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) are working in close collaboration to ensure the successful operation of Old Oak Common station with planning for onward distribution of passengers from the station a priority. On 25th August 2023, Minister Huw Merriman MP hosted a meeting at Old Oak Common with Andy Lord, TfL Commissioner, Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, and officials from Great Western Railway, HS2 Ltd, Network Rail and DfT to discuss a range of issues relating to the station. DfT, TfL, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail officials also have a regular Strategic Steering Group for Old Oak Common which helps ensure continued close collaboration on issues relating to station delivery and future successful operation as a temporary terminus for HS2.

Railway Stations: Parking

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September to Question 198993 on Railway Stations: Parking, whether his Department has produced (a) an Equality Impact Assessment or (b) guidance for Train Operating Companies on accessible methods to pay for parking at railway stations.

Huw Merriman: Train operating companies are responsible for considering the equalities impacts of operational changes such as to car parking payment methods at stations, and the Department has not conducted such an assessment. The Rail Delivery Group published the Station Car Parking Good Practice Guide for train operators in 2018, which sets out that both cash and non-cash payment options should normally be provided by station car park operators.

Pedestrians: Rural Areas

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a recent assessment of the safety of pedestrians on rural roads (a) with Transport for London in (i) Enfield North constituency and (ii) London and (b) in England.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the safety of pedestrians on rural roads (a) with Transport for London and local authorities in (i) Enfield North constituency and (ii) London and (b) in England.

Mr Richard Holden: Responsibility for managing London's road network is shared between Transport for London, National Highways and the London boroughs. At a national level, the Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Key changes include the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, strengthening pedestrian priority on pavements and at crossings and guidance on safe passing distances when overtaking cyclists, pedestrians and horse-riders. The changes will lead to improvements in road safety as they encourage more mutual respect and consideration for all road users.

Traffic Commissioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will list the dates on which he held meetings with the Traffic Commissioner for London and the south east since November 2022; and if he will publish the minutes from those meetings.

Mr Richard Holden: Since November 2022, the Secretary of State has not met with the Traffic Commissioner for London and the South-East.

Railways: Ticket Offices

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government issued guidance to Train Operating Companies to commence consulting on ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: The Government has asked train operators to reduce the cost of the industry to the taxpayer given the dire financial situation facing the railways; as well as ensuring staff are deployed where they are most needed by passengers. As a result, operators have considered potential reforms, including at stations and in July 2023 commenced consultations using the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) process, which train operating companies must follow when proposing changes to the opening hours or closure of a ticket office. The proposals are industry led and this is a real opportunity to update and improve the way train operators deliver for customers. We expect train operators to continue to work collaboratively with the passenger bodies to refine their proposals

Large Goods Vehicles: Concrete

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the adequacy of the lower weight limits on greener volumetric mobile concrete plants.

Mr Richard Holden: A public call for evidence will be launched this year to understand the potential challenges and implications and to seek evidence to support our consideration about whether to change the volumetric concrete mixers weight limits beyond the end of the current exceptional temporary arrangement.

A12: Essex

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of when the construction of a dual carriageway for the A12 between Braintree and Marks Tey will be (a) approved, (b) financed and (c) completed.

Mr Richard Holden: Proposals to improve the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey, where it meets the A12, have been developed alongside other potential enhancements to the strategic road network as part of the RIS3 Pipeline, for possible delivery in a future road period. Following a statement to Parliament in March 2023 from the Secretary of State for Transport identifying a range of funding headwinds and pressures facing transport infrastructure delivery, schemes within the pipeline have been deferred for consideration as part of RIS4 (beyond 2030) at the earliest. The RIS remains the primary funding source for development and delivery of enhancements to the strategic road network in England.

Road Signs and Markings

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to erect historic county boundary signs on roads maintained by National Highways.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department has no plans to ask National Highways to implement historic county boundary signs on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).

Traffic Commissioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the powers of the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to take steps to increase the powers of the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain.

Mr Richard Holden: In May 2023, we published a review into the function of the Traffic Commissioners of Great Britain. This review sought to produce a robust assessment of the function and align it wherever possible to Cabinet’s Office direction on Public Bodies reviews. The review found that the Traffic Commissioner function generally operates effectively and can meet the standards of service for the transport industry. It also identified that future, substantive, reform of the Traffic Commissioner function would require legislative changes to be made. These will need to be considered alongside other Government priorities.

Railways: Ticket Offices

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2023 to Question 198887 on Railways: Ticket Offices, if he will publish the Equality Impact Assessment undertaken by his Department on the potential closure of railway station ticket offices in England in addition to those prepared by the train operators.

Huw Merriman: Operators prepared Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs), and these were available on train operator’s websites during the consultation. Government departments do not typically publish Equality Impact Assessments (EIA) while policy is under development. We will consider publishing the EIA once we have considered the outcomes of the industry-led Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process.

Railways

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish data providing a breakdown of the number of rail journey cancellations in England and Wales for each year between 2010 and 2023.

Huw Merriman: Statistics on the number of trains part and fully cancelled are published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) - Table 3123 - Trains planned and cancellations by operator and cause

Railways: South Wales

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) National Rail, (b) the Welsh Government and (c) Transport for Wales on the provision of relief lines between Newport and Cardiff Central to facilitate the addition of services and stations in (i) St.Mellows and (ii) other areas.

Huw Merriman: Upgrading the south Wales relief lines has been identified as a high priority by the Wales Rail Board comprising my department, Welsh Government and Transport for Wales and I recently authorised Network Rail to undertake further development work. Progression of the proposed Cardiff Parkway station at St Mellons is subject to the outcome of a Welsh Government planning decision.

A12: Essex

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme  for junctions 19 to 25 to be completed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Richard Holden: The A12 Chelmsford to A120 Widening scheme (Junctions 19 to 25) is scheduled to open for traffic in December 2027. National Highways reports on delivery, regularly updating progress on their website.

Rapid Charging Fund

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication entitled UK Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, published 31 March 2022, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the government's response to the consultation on the design of the Rapid Charging Fund.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Government Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, published 31 March 2023, what estimate he has made of the number of high-powered charge points that will be installed through the Rapid Charging Fund.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the total amount spent on the Rapid Charging Fund as of September 2023.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the Rapid Charging Fund.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's expected timescale is for opening applications for the Rapid Charging Fund.

Jesse Norman: The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) will future-proof electrical capacity at strategic locations, where it is currently uncommercially viable for industry to do so, to prepare the network for a fully electric car and van fleet. The RCF will not fund chargepoints directly. It will enable the market to deliver by subsidising the uncommercial costs of new or additional electricity connections. The Government is in the process of developing a pilot for the RCF. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) has been engaging closely with stakeholders and colleagues in other Departments for the pilot, which will open for applications in due course. The budget for the pilot will be publicly announced when it opens for applications. The Government intends to conduct a public consultation for the main RCF. Results from the consultation and learnings from the pilot will help to inform the design of the main fund. Ahead of the RCF, the Government continues to work with industry on the rollout of chargepoints at motorway service areas (MSAs). 96 per cent of motorway service areas (MSAs) have at least one rapid chargepoint. There are now 260 ultra-rapid (150kw+) chargepoints, and more than 480 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid chargepoints at MSAs altogether.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Taking charge: the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, published by his Department in March 2022, what progress he has made on meeting the aim of having at least six high-powered, open-access charge points at all motorway service areas by 2023.

Jesse Norman: Around 96 per cent of motorway service areas (MSAs) now have charging available. When the aim was announced, there were only 4 ultra-rapid (150kw+) chargepoints across MSAs in England. There are now 260 ultra-rapid chargepoints, and more than 480 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid chargepoints at MSAs altogether.

Driving Licences: USA

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2023 to Question 198296 on Driving Licences: USA, whether his Department has exchanged any other communication with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators since December 2020.

Mr Richard Holden: I have recently written to the Chairman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, inviting the organisation to facilitate discussions relating to the potential for reciprocal arrangements for driving licence exchange.

Hammersmith Bridge: Repairs and Maintenance

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken with (a) the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and (b) Transport for London to help reopen Hammersmith Bridge to vehicles as quickly as possible.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department for Transport has engaged with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) on the development of an Outline Business Case for the forthcoming strengthening works on Hammersmith Bridge. The Department has co-operated with Transport for London on the governance of this business case. In addition to granting £2.93m to LBHF for the soon to be complete stabilisation works, the Department also recently granted £2.5m to LBHF for the geo-technical investigations required for the next stage of works.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to review the implementation of the forthcoming updated Clean Maritime Plan.

Mr Richard Holden: Yes. As with all government strategies, we will be reviewing and monitoring progress made as a result of the refreshed Clean Maritime Plan, and the impact of its implementation. We will also publish future refreshes of the Clean Maritime Plan at a suitable time.

Aviation

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds data on the number of commercial flight cancellations made per calendar year.

Jesse Norman: Information on the number of commercial flight cancellations made per calendar year at UK airports is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Table 4a of the UK airport data publication provides information on the overall number of cancelled air transport movements by airport: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/airports/uk-airport-data/ The UK flight punctuality statistics publication provides more detailed information on commercial flight cancellations, such as route-level breakdowns, for selected UK airports: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/flight-punctuality/uk-flight-punctuality-statistics/

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to mitigate the financial impact of Universal Credit deductions on (a) families with children and (b) other recipients.

Guy Opperman: The amount that can be deducted is capped and we have lowered the standard cap on deductions from Universal Credit twice over recent years, firstly from 40% to 30% in October 2019 and then to 25% in April 2021.DWP takes every care to recover benefit debt without causing undue financial hardship.Deductions are made under legislation and cover a broad range of contingencies, like the recovery of fines to prevent incarceration, the payment of rent arrears to prevent homelessness, child maintenance liabilities to their children, and provision for one-off items of expenditure through advances and the repayment of debts.DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their deductions and encourages customers to contact DWP to discuss any concerns. The department has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage repayment of debt. Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans. For overpayment deductions specifically, where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of deduction for an overpayment recovery, they are encouraged to contact the department’s Debt Management to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment or cessation of the deduction. There is no minimum amount that a customer has to pay, and we have recently extended the time period for any reduced payment to remain in place. Customers who do contact Debt Management are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with DWP, to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 198769 on Universal Credit: Disqualification, how many children were living in households subject to a Universal Credit sanction in the lowest geographical level and in the most recent month for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: Information on the number of children living in households subject to a Universal Credit sanction is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.Claimants are only sanctioned if they fail to meet their agreed requirements or fail to take up or stay in employment without good reason. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions, caring responsibilities or disabilities and any evidence of good reason, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

Flexible Support Fund

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the budget for the Flexible Support Fund was in financial year 2022-23, and what estimated expenditure on that fund is for financial years (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

Guy Opperman: The budget for the Flexible Support Fund in 2022-23 was £54.7m. Estimated expenditure for the Flexible Support Fund across the remaining Spending Review period is as follows: 2023-24 - £88.8m2024-25 - £117.0m NBThese figures include costs to support customers overcome barriers to employment such as training and childcare support.These forecast figures are subject to revision and final costs will be subject to demand.

Food Poverty

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the numbers of people living in food poverty in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what recent assessment he has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on levels of food poverty in those areas; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce food poverty.

Mims Davies: This government takes the issue of food security very seriously and is committed to understanding and addressing food poverty. This is why we added food security questions to the Family Resources Survey in 2019/20, and also why we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time in March 2023. National statistics on food security and food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024. These questions remain in the survey and will allow us to track food security and foodbank use over time. Alongside the broad suite of poverty data, these will help the Government to understand more about the characteristics of people most in need and help shape future policy considerations. Statistics are not available at the constituency level. This Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why we are providing support totalling over £94bn over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living. Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits will receive additional Cost of Living Payments, totalling up to £900 in the 2023-24 financial year.Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England this financial year bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. In the instance of Coventry City Council £6,448,445 has been allocated for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 and £3,224,222.30 was allocated for the period 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the average waiting time for mandatory reconsideration of benefit decisions in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mandatory reconsiderations are conducted (i) quickly and (ii) effectively.

Tom Pursglove: The median mandatory reconsideration (MR) clearance times have been provided for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) benefit decisions. To provide information across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost. Median clearance times have been provided as the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases. Personal Independence Payment  The median clearance times for PIP Mandatory Reconsiderations, normal rules between August 2022 and July 2023, were:a) 28 calendar days for Coventryb) 28 calendar days for West Midlandsc) 28 calendar days for England Notes:Each PIP claim can have more than one reconsideration registered against it. The above includes all MR decisions (excluding withdrawn and cancelled).The PIP MR clearance times are based on the clearance times from the date the MR was registered to the date the MR was cleared.DWP offers particular support for those coming to the end of their life, known as the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). This was formerly called Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI). Cases which are not processed under SREL are referred to as ‘normal rules’ claims. The status of claims as 'normal rules' or 'SREL' is shown as at the point of registration.Definition of median: The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value.  Universal Credit The median clearance times for UC Mandatory Reconsiderations between August 2022 and July 2023 were:a) 37 calendar days for Coventryb) 35 calendar days for West Midlandsc) 36 calendar days for England  Notes: Each UC claim can have more than one reconsideration registered against it. The above includes all MR decisions (excluding withdrawn and cancelled).The UC MR clearance times are based on the clearance times from the date the MR was registered to the date the MR was cleared.This data on UC MR clearance times is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.For a small number of UC claims with an MR (1%) it was not possible to determine the geography information, so these have not been included in the figures.Definition of median: The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value.  Employment and Support AllowanceESA Work Capability Assessment MR clearance times are available on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. It can be found by going through “ESA Work Capability Assessments”, “Mandatory Reconsideration – Clearances” “Table 4 – Median Clearance Times by Date of Decision”. It is then possible to restrict to Coventry, West Midlands and England. In law there is no time limit within which a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) decision must be made. This reflects the overarching policy that the focus should be on making the right decision and not the speed of clearance. Of course, decisions will be made without delay but if the decision maker considers that more time is needed to gather or consider evidence, then they will give themselves that time to ensure they are confident that the decision ultimately made is correct.We constantly review our processes to ensure we are providing the best possible customer service to customers requesting a mandatory reconsideration, both in terms of speed of dealing with the request and quality of decision making. For example, we have improved the system functionality in UC to allow some customers to directly upload evidence to inform a decision to improve the customer experience. We have also recruited circa 400 additional colleagues into the Dispute Resolution Service over the summer to increase capacity and reduce waiting times.

Human Rights: Disability

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason Ministers did not attend the UN review of the Government's treatment of disabled people due to take place in Geneva on 28 August 2023.

Tom Pursglove: The hearing was arranged in relation to the Committee’s review of the UK Government’s follow-up reports to the 2016 inquiry under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A state party dialogue with Ministers is not a procedural requirement of this review. We have followed all of the Committee’s necessary rules and procedures and, as agreed with the Committee entirely properly, representatives of the UK Government will present the UK’s progress at the Committee’s session in March 2024.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Voluntary Work: Young People

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many participants in the National Citizen Service attended (a) a state-run or state-funded school, selective on academic, faith or other grounds, (b) a state-run or state-funded non-selective school, (c) an independent or fee-paying school with a bursary, (d) an independent or fee-paying school without a bursary and (e) school outside the UK aged 11-16, in each year since 2010.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many participants in the National Citizen Service have parents who had achieved (a) at least one degree level qualification, (b) qualifications below degree level and (c) no formal qualifications in each year since 2010.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many participants in the National Citizen Service in each year since 2010 were entitled to Free School Meals at any point during their school years.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many participants of the National Citizen Service described themselves as coming from a lower socio-economic background in each year since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: NCS is open to all 16-17 year olds. Since its inception, over 800,000 young people have participated in the programme.NCS Trust does not hold data on parents’ or guardians’ education level nor on participants’ perception of socio-economic background. NCS Trustdoes not hold data that aligns with the school classification outlined.However, the NCS Trust does report annually on the proportion of participants who are eligible for Free School Meals (capturing those who have been ‘eligible within the last 6 years’). The table below outlines the available figures. 201320142015201620172018201920202021Total NCS participants39,56657,78975,69692,996 99,179 100,038 92,05723,46795,549Number of participants eligible for Free School Meals6,8819,47212,33814,47916,78115,67621,0264,91920,753Percentage of participants eligible for Free School Meals17.39%16.39%16.30%15.57%16.92%15.67%22.84%20.96% 21.72%

National Citizen Service Trust: Staff

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people are employed by the National Citizen Service.

Stuart Andrew: In 2022/23, NCS Trust had 170 employees. NCS Trust also has 12 young people on their Youth Advisory Board who are remunerated.

Theatres

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a list of the number of (a) theatres operating and (b) theatre closures in each year since 2010.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Department does not systematically collect or publish data on the number of theatres operating across the country, but its advisory arm's-length body, The Theatres Trust, maintains a database of over 1,000 theatres in operation, which can be found online at https://database.theatrestrust.org.uk.

Swimming Pools: Finance

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the forthcoming National Vision for Facilities report will include a strategy for the long-term funding of community swimming pools.

Stuart Andrew: Our new strategy, ‘Get Active: A strategy for the future of sport and physical activity’, committed to the development of a National Vision for Facilities. This vision will set out the role of facilities and wider spaces for participation, including the importance of the public and private leisure sector, to anticipate future fiscal events.The Government has confirmed significant funding for facilities, including a £63 million support package for swimming pools announced at the Budget. This package will help provide investment in energy efficiency measures to reduce future operating costs and make facilities sustainable in the long-term.Government is also investing nearly £400 million directly into grassroots sports facilities across the country up to 2025.

Football: Afghanistan

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2023 to Question 198058 on Football: Afghanistan, whether she plans to hold discussions with FIFA on the Afghanistan Women's National (a) Team and (b) Development Team.

Stuart Andrew: We have no plans to hold discussions with FIFA on the Afghanistan Women’s National Team or Development Team. I was delighted to attend their training session and meet the inspirational players during my recent visit to Australia for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. However, international sports federations operate independently of governments, as reflected in their own governance and regulation, therefore I am unable to intervene.

Digital Broadcasting: Scotland

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on Scottish viewers of the expiry of digital terrestrial television licenses in 2034.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Government remains committed to the future of digital terrestrial television (DTT), the technology which underpins Freeview. Millions of households across the UK, including in Scotland, rely on DTT. This is particularly true of rural communities and older people.We also recognise the crucial role that DTT services play in the wider UK broadcasting system, in particular in helping ensure that public service content continues to be widely available and free-to-air to all audiences.For these reasons, the Government has already legislated to secure the continuity of DTT until at least 2034.As the sector evolves, it is right that we continue to evaluate the future distribution of television services. To that end, and as set out in the Broadcasting White Paper, the Government has asked Ofcom to continue to track changes in DTT viewing and to undertake an early review on market changes that may affect the future of content distribution before the end of 2025.We have also recently launched a major research and engagement programme looking at how UK audiences will get their TV in the decades to come, including DTT, satellite, cable, and online.Before any decisions about the future of terrestrial television are made, close consideration will be given to how any changes would impact audiences, and especially those who rely on DTT as their primary means of watching television.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of XL Bully dogs in the UK.

Trudy Harrison: We are actively working with data analysts and stakeholders to ascertain the current size of the XL Bully population in the UK. The American XL Bully type dog has been disproportionately involved in fatal dog attacks in the past 12 months. This is why the Government is taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what evidential basis her Department decided to ban the XL Bully breed of dog.

Trudy Harrison: From our assessment of publicly available data, it appears that the American XL Bully type dog has been disproportionately involved in fatal dog attacks in the past 12 months. This is why the Government is taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types before the end of this year.

Dogs: Electronic Training Aids

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of using electronic shock collars on (a) dogs with hearing impairments and (b) other dogs.

Trudy Harrison: The ban on e-collars under the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations will only apply to collars controlled by hand-held devices that deliver an electric shock to cats or dogs. The ban will not extend to collars which emit a vibration, spray or other non-shock stimulus. There is concern that e-collars can cause harm and redirect aggression or generate anxiety-based behaviour in pets. This risks making underlying behavioural problems, such as aggression towards other pets, worse. We would advise all owners who are concerned about controlling their dog’s behaviour to take advice from their vet or a suitably qualified dog behaviourist or trainer.

Dangerous Dogs

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an estimate of how many XL bully dogs there are in the UK; and what plans she has for such dogs once a ban comes into effect.

Trudy Harrison: Further details will be provided ahead of the tabling of the legislation later this year. Dog owners do not need to take any action at this stage.

Dangerous Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where her Department plans to keep seized XL Bully dogs.

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) monitor and (b) restrict as necessary fur imports from European countries, in the context of outbreaks of avian flu in Europe.

Trudy Harrison: Further details will be provided ahead of the tabling of the legislation later this year. Dog owners do not need to take any action at this stage.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Incentives

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 December 2022 to Question 97595, what was the total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for her core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.

Mark Spencer: Bonuses paid out as non-cash vouchers is a standard practice across Government. Attracting, retaining and motivating highly skilled individuals is essential for the Civil Service to deliver for the British people. This is why pay must be fair and competitive as well as affordable to the taxpayer. Performance-related bonuses and vouchers are a key part of this. The Edenred contract came into effect in 2017 which allows departments access to non-cash vouchers for staff. The total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for the core Department as performance-related bonuses in the 2022-23 financial year is £716,250.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July to Question 194204 on Air Pollution: Monitoring, what the locations are each of the additional monitors which (a) have been installed since December 2021 and (b) are planned to be installed by March 2025.

Trudy Harrison: Information about monitoring sites as they become operational is made available on UK Air: Home - Defra, UK.

Nature Conservation

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) stop and (b) reverse nature degradation.

Trudy Harrison: In England, we have now set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. By 2030 we have committed to halt the decline in species abundance and by 2042 we aim to reverse species decline; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature. We know that to meet our targets we will need large-scale habitat restoration, creation and improved connectivity; to tackle pressures on species including pollution, unsustainable use of resources and climate change; and targeted action to recover specific species. We have also launched a new £25 million Species Survival Fund, supporting the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitats.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what was the cost to the public purse of her Department (a) installing and (b) maintaining air quality monitors in each year since 2010; and what her Department plans to spend on (i) installing and (ii) maintaining air quality monitors in (A) 2023-24 and (B) 2024-25.

Trudy Harrison: Since 2010, the number of networks that monitor air quality have expanded from 11 to 16. This has included the number of sites increasing from 179 to 538. (There were 284 in 2016) In 2016 the Environment Agency took over the responsibility to manage the UK national air quality monitoring networks on behalf of DEFRA and the government. The following was allocated for buying and maintaining air pollution equipment since then: Figures for the UK Networks YearCapitalResource2016/170.87M6.19M2017/181.50M5.65M2018/191.47 M5.68 M2019/201.44 M6.52 M2020/211.5M6.7M2021/222.0 M7.5 M2022/23 2.98 M9.03 M Figures for the UK Urban Nitrogen Dioxide Network (UUNN) 2019-200.41 M2020-210.56 M2021-220.6 M2022-230.62 MNB we do not have figures before 2019 as the network did not start until 2020. The following is the current predicted allocated funding for buying and maintaining air pollution equipment for 2023-24 and 2024-25: Figures for the UK Networks YearCapitalResource2023-244.804 M (estimate)9.23M (estimate)2024-256.25m (estimate)10.87m (estimate) Figures for the UK Urban Nitrogen Dioxide Network (UUNN) YearEstimated Allocated spend2023-2024 0.62M2024-2025 0.69M

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the UK REACH work programme for 2023-24.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to (a) include additional delivery objectives in the UK REACH work programme for 2023-24 and (b) allocate new resources for delivery of the programme.

Rebecca Pow: The 2023-24 UK REACH Work Programme will be published by the Health and Safety Executive in due course. It will include details of any additional objectives as well as details of resource allocation.

Air Pollution: Lancaster

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of air quality monitoring in Lancaster.

Trudy Harrison: The Environment Agency manages the UK national air quality monitoring networks on behalf of Defra and the Government. Further information about air quality monitoring can be found here.

Agriculture: Environment Protection

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department (a) conducts monitoring of and (b) has commissioned research on the (i) presence of (A) PFAS, (B) microplastics, (C) bisphenols and (D) other chemicals in treated sewage sludge for agricultural use and (ii) potential impact of such chemicals on soil health and watercourses.

Rebecca Pow: Defra and the Environment Agency work closely to monitor and understand the risks of a range of contaminants in the environment.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what is the completion status of each (a) key delivery objective and (b) activity in the UK REACH work programme for 2022-23.

Rebecca Pow: Each year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes a report on its activities in delivering the UK REACH Work Programme, outlining progress against its objectives. HSE’s 2022 annual report will be published in due course.

Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to restrict the use of perfluoroalkyl and plyfluoroalkyl substances.

Rebecca Pow: On 4 April 2023, we welcomed the Health and Safety Executive’s publication of the Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA), which represents a significant milestone in the UK’s efforts to protect people and the environment. One of the RMOA’s recommendations, which Defra ministers have accepted, was that work be progressed to reduce PFAS emissions by developing UK REACH restrictions, beginning with a restriction on PFAS in fire-fighting foams, and by exploring further restrictions covering a wide range of industrial and consumer uses. These actions form part of the commitments made within the Plan for Water published earlier this year.

Air Pollution

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her letter to the Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection of 25 July 2023, if she will publish (a) a list of the experts from whom her Department received advice regarding the inclusion of Regulations 9 and 10 of the National Emission Ceilings Regulations 2018 and the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1522 in Schedule 1 of the Retained EU Law Act and (b) the advice that she received; and if she will make a statement.

Trudy Harrison: Regulations 9 and 10 of the National Emissions Ceilings Regulations 2018 and Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1522 concern the preparation of a National Air Pollution Control Programme. The Secretary of State received advice from Defra officials following established processes in regard to these provisions and the Retained EU Law Act. The Secretary of State does not intend to publish that advice. The Secretary of State did not receive any advice from external sources. The Secretary of State will inform Parliament when there is an update to give, in line with established protocols.

Packaging: Waste Disposal

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled, Update on packaging reforms to help drive down inflation, published by her Department on 25 July 2023, what assessment she has made of the impact of deferring the extended producer responsibility scheme on the delivery of the (a) Government’s waste target under the Environment Act 2021 and (b) interim targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.

Rebecca Pow: The decision to defer producer payments under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging was taken jointly with the Devolved Administrations in light of the pressure facing consumers and businesses in the current economic context, but internal analyses conducted by my Department prior to the announcement of the deferral estimated only a very small impact on our statutory target and the interim targets in the Environmental Improvement Plan. My department will continue to engage closely with all of our stakeholders on the design of core aspects of pEPR as we look to deliver an enduring scheme that provides the systemic change required to meet our environmental objectives.

Packaging: Waste Disposal

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled, Update on packaging reforms to help drive down inflation, published by her Department on 25 July 2023, what assessment she has made of the impact of deferring the extended producer responsibility scheme on the delivery of the (a) fifth and (b) sixth carbon budgets.

Rebecca Pow: The decision to defer producer payments under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging was taken jointly with the Devolved Administrations in light of the pressure facing consumers and businesses in the current economic context, but internal analyses conducted by my Department prior to the announcement of the deferral estimated only a very small impact on the delivery of Carbon Budgets 5 and 6. My department will continue to engage closely with all of our stakeholders on the design of core aspects of pEPR as we look to deliver an enduring scheme that provides the systemic change required to meet our environmental objectives.

Climate Change: Arctic

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has held with international counterparts on the (a) prevention and (b) mitigation of melting of the Arctic ice cap.

Trudy Harrison: The Secretary of State holds regular discussions with international counterparts on a number of issues, including those to do with climate change.

Climate Change

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to measure changes in the level of climate-related (a) loss of the coastline, (b) flooding, (c) drought and (d) other extreme weather events.

Trudy Harrison: The Government uses cutting-edge science, including advances in climate modelling and projections, to inform and prepare our response to rising sea levels. The Government continues to work closely with the Met Office to assess the science of sea-level rise as part of the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme, including examining the implications of the latest IPCC's 6th assessment report (AR6). This includes the outcome of significant ice mass loss from Antarctica and Greenland. Our long-term policy statement sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk. It includes five ambitious policies and over 40 supporting actions we will take to accelerate progress to better protect and prepare the country against flooding and coastal erosion from more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change.

Food: Waste

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps to help reduce the volume of food waste produced by businesses.

Rebecca Pow: This year over £2m will go towards a food waste prevention programme with action across the supply chain. This involves support for Courtauld Commitment 2030. Delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Courtauld 2030 has a target to halve food waste per capita by 2030. Specific action includes supporting the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap with key guidance and tools to help businesses to Target, Measure and Act on their waste. We also look to businesses to help citizens waste less through following guidance and best practice. On labelling for instance using the blue fridge logo to show storage in the fridge is recommended and therefore keeping food for longer.

Food: Waste

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory food waste reporting.

Rebecca Pow: The Government published a consultation, including an impact assessment, on improving food waste reporting by large businesses. The Government published a response to the consultation in July 2023 outlining the view that a regulatory approach is not suitable at this time in the current economic climate, with inflation (particularly food inflation) and cost-of-living crisis, especially when any additional costs may be passed on to consumers. A voluntary approach to food waste reporting will continue to be supported by the government.Improved food waste reporting by large food businesses in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Environment Protection: Finance

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential merits of offering multi-year funding settlements for nature restoration and protection projects.

Trudy Harrison: The Department has run and is currently running multiple grant schemes funding nature restoration and protection projects. These include a variety of allocation methods including criteria-based and competed general grants to meet the Government’s objectives. The use of multi-year awards is advisable to provide certainty for multi-year projects but dependent on the nature of the project funded

Environment Protection

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons her Department did not include an apex target in the 25 year environmental improvement plan.

Trudy Harrison: The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 states that its apex goal is to halt the decline in our biodiversity so we can achieve thriving plants and wildlife. This is underpinned by our apex target to halt species decline in England by 2030.

Land Use

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential merits of introducing a land use framework.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish a land use framework.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department held consolations with local authorities on developing a land use framework.

Trudy Harrison: There are many uses of our land that we need to anticipate for the future. The Land Use Framework for England, to be published this year, will provide a long-term perspective on the land uses required to deliver growth, Net Zero, climate change adaptation, nature recovery, food security, and economic infrastructure. The Framework will help to inform how we manage any trade-offs, supporting the delivery of resilient, multifunctional landscapes, which will be dependent on the local context and national needs. While we have not formally consulted on the Framework, we are taking account of engagement undertaken for Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and have met with the local authority stakeholders such as the County Councils Network, ADEPT and the Local Government Association (LGA).

Natural England: Staff

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many full-time equivalent employees worked at Natural England in each year since 2019.

Trudy Harrison: The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees of Natural England as of 31 March 2019 and subsequent years through to 31 March 2023. As at Date FTE31/03/2019175531/03/2020178031/03/2021210131/03/2022252731/03/20232955

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Trudy Harrison: The Government believes that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 plays a very important part in our overall approach towards tackling dangerous dogs. This is why we are taking urgent action to bring forward a ban on XL Bully dog types under the Act following a concerning rise in attacks and fatalities, which appear to be driven by this type of dog. In the meantime, we have been working hard with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to help prevent attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied across all breeds of dog.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Plastics

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her department has spent on plastic (a) pens, (b) cups, and (c) bags for promotion and marketing in each of the last five years.

Mark Spencer: The information could only be provided by incurring disproportionate costs. Building on the success of our existing restrictions on certain single-use plastic items and the single use carrier bag charge, the Government will restrict the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, trays, and ban all single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers from October this year. In addition, the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) seek to reduce the impact of the Government estate and operations on the environment. Under the GGCs 2021 to 2025 framework, Government departments and partner organisations report against the target to reduce the overall amount of waste generated by 15% from the 2017 to 2018 baseline. They will also report on waste related sub-targets, including removing consumer single use plastic from the central Government office estate by 2025. This data will be published later this year in the 2021 to 2022 GGCs annual report.

Pets: Electronic Training Aids

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ban electronic shock collars for pets.

Trudy Harrison: The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations will make it an offence to attach an electronic shock collar to a cat or dog, or to be in possession of a remote-control device capable of activating such a collar when attached to a cat or dog. The regulations have been considered in the House of Lords and will be considered by the House of Commons in due course. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 198378 on Water Companies: Fines tabled on 7 September 2023 for answer on 12 September.

Rebecca Pow: A response was published on 19 September 2023.

Veterinary Medicine

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish a response to the consultation entitled Review of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013, published on 2 February 2023.

Mark Spencer: My Department has received a significant number of responses from stakeholders to the public consultation on the proposed changes to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 as applicable in Great Britain. I thank all who have responded for taking the time to consider the proposed changes. My Department has now considered the responses received and a formal response to the consultation is expected to be published by October. This will include a summary of the feedback received to the consultation and set out the actions my Department will take for the proposed changes to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013.

Flood Control

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) budget and (b) planned completion date is of each of the schemes in her Department's Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme for 2021 to 2027.

Trudy Harrison: The £200m Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme is a 6-year programme. Between 2021 and 2027, the flood and coastal resilience innovation fund, managed by the Environment Agency, will allocate:£150 million to 25 local areas to demonstrate how practical innovative actions can work to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.£36m to the coastal transition accelerator programme which has commenced with projects in East Riding of Yorkshire, North Norfolk and may include other locations in the future, to explore and support communities and businesses to adapt to a changing coast.£8 million to the adaptation pathways programme for work on long term planning for climate adaptation in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley and YorkshireThe remaining funds will be used to support the projects and the evaluation of the programmes.Attached hyperlinks for further information about the programme Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme | Engage Environment Agency (engagementhq.com)

Forests: Commodities

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether statutory provisions are in place to prohibit legal deforestation where commodities have been produced legally in the country of origin but have caused significant damage to the environment; and if he will make a statement.

Trudy Harrison: The UK plays a leading role in supporting global efforts to protect and restore forest landscapes, driving international action to tackle deforestation and ensure forests are sustainably managed. This effort is underpinned by a commitment of £1.5 billion to international forests between 2021 and 2026. This package of work includes new due diligence legislation through the Environment Act 2021 to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. Our law will make it illegal for larger businesses operating in the UK to use key forest risk commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Businesses in scope will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains, and to report on this exercise annually. We cannot shift to sustainable supply chains alone – it must be a collective effort between consumers and producers globally. This issue is central to the UK’s commitment to tackling the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Our approach to due diligence is based on compliance with the relevant local laws of producer countries. Our aim is to work with producer countries and support their efforts to uphold their laws and strengthen environmental protection. We believe this approach – which supports the efforts of government in the countries where these products are grown - provides the best path to long-term sustainability. We also continue to work with consumer and producer country partners in forums such as the Forest, Agriculture, and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue, which the UK and Indonesia launched together as co-chairs in 2021. The FACT Dialogue convenes 28 major producers and consumers of internationally traded agricultural commodities to agree principles for collaboration and developed a Roadmap of actions which was launched at COP26, to protect forests and other ecosystems while promoting sustainable trade and development, in a way that respects all countries’ interests.

Sportsgrounds: Rubber

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2023 to Question 197683 on Sportsgrounds: Rubber, if she will instruct the evidence project to consider the potential impact of future regulatory action in this area of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Rebecca Pow: The referenced evidence project is a UK-wide study, covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will review the emissions of intentionally added microplastics, including rubber crumb in sports pitches, and the risks they pose to both human health and the environment, as well as undertaking a socio-economic assessment. Defra and the Devolved Governments will consider its recommendations once complete. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement and Windsor Framework, EU REACH continues to apply in full to Northern Ireland. As we take forward the new arrangements in the Windsor Framework, will work with the EU to manage issues should they arise.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Tenants: Government Assistance

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help support renters.

Rachel Maclean: Alongside the substantial package of financial support we already provide, this government is committed to delivering a fairer deal for renters through the Renters (Reform) Bill.Our reforms will provide greater security and quality in the private rented sector while supporting those landlords doing the right thing for their tenants.

Housing: Planning

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the National Planning Policy Framework on the supply of new homes.

Rachel Maclean: We remain committed to delivering 300,000 new homes per year and we are investing £11.5 billion to build the affordable, quality homes this country needs.The proposed changes to the planning system are designed to support areas to get more local plans in place and therefore deliver more housing, and we will set out our response to the consultation later in the autumn.

Housing: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support leaseholders at The Mill in Ipswich with rectifying (a) cladding and (b) structural issues.

Lee Rowley: I want to see a good resolution for Leaseholders at the Mill. Our priority is finding a way to keep the residents safe in their homes and make sure unsafe cladding is remediated. The department are working at pace with the building’s Insolvency Practitioners, Ipswich Borough Council and Homes England to find solutions.

Housing: Insulation

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to take steps to support leaseholders that are paying increased insurance premiums whilst awaiting cladding remediation.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his oral contribution of 30 January 2023 on Building Safety, Official Report, column 55, whether he has had discussions with insurance companies that have increased premiums for leaseholders awaiting cladding remediation.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to his oral contribution of 30 January 2023, Official Report, column 55, what steps his Department has taken steps to help alter the behaviour of insurance companies; and if he will make a statement.

Lee Rowley: The Government is committed to making sure that buildings insurance costs are fair and transparent, and that leaseholders have confidence in challenging costs where necessary. Insurers must price risk in a responsible manner. It is clear from the Financial Conduct Authority reports into this market that leaseholders have not always been getting the service that they should, and this must change.The Association of British Insurers is developing a scheme for buildings with fire safety risks experiencing particularly high premiums. I have engaged regularly with the industry to monitor the progress of the scheme. We have made clear that we expect the scheme to be delivered as soon as possible.The Government has also committed to ban commissions paid to brokers or other third parties on buildings insurance from being passed on to leaseholders through their service charge, replacing this with more transparent fees. We are pressing relevant parties to urgently consider their charging mechanisms ahead of government reform. The Financial Conduct Authority has recently consulted on changing its rules to increase transparency for leaseholders and ensure insurers and insurance brokers apply fair value to their policies, an initiative which I strongly welcome.We will continue to work with the insurance sector to restore confidence in building safety and a return to proportionate premiums and products.

Buildings: Insulation

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has (a) identified and (b) taken action in cases of freeholders preventing cladding remediation; and if he will make a statement.

Lee Rowley: Building owners have a legal responsibility to make sure their buildings are safe. While many freeholders are acting responsibly, a minority are failing to progress remediation.The department is aware of freeholders who are stalling on remediation work through intelligence gathered from engagement with regulatory bodies, and updates from our delivery partners who monitor buildings' progress through the government's remediation funds (e.g., building safety fund and cladding safety scheme). This intelligence is also used by the department to identify, monitor and contact owners of high-rise buildings that have not registered for remediation schemes but may have unsafe cladding systems. Where Freeholders fail to engage, the department works with local regulators to compel them to take action.Regulators (local authorities and fire and rescue services) have statutory duties and a range of powers to compel responsible entities to enter the funds and undertake the necessary remediation works. These powers range from soft levers to enforcement powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The department also holds account management meetings reviewing the largest and/or most problematic freeholders to track progress and resolve blockers.In addition to the above Local Regulator powers, the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new enforcement powers, remediation orders (ROs) and remediation contribution orders (RCOs), that allow regulators, the Secretary of State and leaseholders to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring a building owner to fix, and pay to fix, their unsafe building within a specified time.

Regeneration: Blackpool

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with Blackpool Council to deliver regeneration projects in Blackpool.

Jacob Young: Since 2019, my department has invested £39.5 million in Blackpool’s Town Deal, £40 million of Levelling Up Fund and £5.8 million of Shared Prosperity Fund into Blackpool.In February 2022, my department undertook a deep dive with Blackpool Council to better understand Blackpool’s regeneration needs, including relocating the court buildings. I thank my Honourable Friend for his continued support for regeneration in Blackpool

Rented Housing: Costs

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has taken steps to reduce the cost of renting residential property.

Rachel Maclean: I refer the Hon Member to the answers given in response to question 153908 on 6 March 2023, question 194156 on 24 July 2023, and questions 198931 and 198912 on 18 September 2023.

Property Development: Floods

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 3 April 2023 to Question HL6937 on Property Development: Floods, and pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 197005 on Property Development: Floods, when his department stopped holding data on how many new residential properties were constructed within Environment Agency flood zone 3.

Rachel Maclean: The Department publishes estimates of the proportion of new residential addresses created on National Flood Zone 3, as well as other designations of interest, in the Land use change statistics series. The most recent statistics available currently are for the financial year 2021-22.

Homelessness: Temporary Accommodation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the (a) quality and (b) suitability of temporary accommodation offered to (i) families and (ii) individuals who have become homeless.

Felicity Buchan: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 197213 on 11 September 2023.Local authorities must ensure temporary accommodation is suitable and the Government is taking steps to increase quality and regulation across all housing stock, including temporary accommodation.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Afghan families currently living in temporary accommodation.

Felicity Buchan: The majority of Afghan families have been moved out of bridging accommodation into longer-term accommodation. Less than 15% of families in bridging hotels at the end of March 2023 are owed a homelessness duty and in local authority temporary accommodation.In addition to the £150 million UK-wide package of support for local authorities and devolved administrations, the Government continues to support councils with Afghan households who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation. £9,150 per household is available to councils to support with homelessness costs as a result of the closure of bridging hotels, as well as £28 per person per day if placed in Temporary Accommodation for up to six months.

High Rise Flats: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many high rise residential buildings 18 meters tall or higher, or at least seven storeys tall with two or more residential units, have registered with the Building Safety Regulator under the Building Safety Act 2022 as of 19 September 2023.

Lee Rowley: The information requested can be found at:https://press.hse.gov.uk/2023/09/20/time-running-out-as-deadline-to-register-high-rise-buildings-nears/

Question

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of (a) private and (b) public sector orphan buildings have EWS1 forms in (a) Portsmouth and (b) England.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 138434 on 8 February 2023.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of short stop sites for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to assess the adequacy of the number of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers in local plans.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's guidance to local authorities on the requirements for the (a) number of pitches and (b) infrastructure within Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites.

Rachel Maclean: Plan policies, including those relating to gypsy and traveller provision, are tested at examination by an independently appointed Inspector before they can be adopted. The examination of the plan will consider whether adequate site provision has been made for gypsies and travellers based on assessed needs.This Department does not make an assessment of the effectiveness of short stop sites for the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community, whether such sites are transit sites or provided as part of negotiated stopping agreements with the local authority.

Rented Housing

Steven Bonnar: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what help he is taking to support renters.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish all correspondence between (a) his Department and (b) the Government Whips Office on the progress of the Renters (Reform) Bill since May 2023.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reform the private rented sector.

Rachel Maclean: This Government is committed to delivering the Renters (Reform) Bill which will deliver the government's commitment to a better deal for renters.The government recognises the cost-of-living pressures that tenants are facing, and that paying rent is likely to be a tenant's biggest monthly expense. Individuals who need help to make their rent payments may be eligible for a range of financial support through the welfare system. We have maintained the Local Housing Allowance at its increased rate following a significant investment of almost £1 billion in 2020.For those most in need, Discretionary Housing Payments are available to help meet a shortfall in housing costs and the Household Support Fund has been extended to help with the cost of essentials. Further decisive action has been taken to support households across the UK through cost-of-living challenges, and the government will continue to provide cost of living support in 2023-24, designed to target the most vulnerable households.In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Climate Change: Planning

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the inclusion of climate mitigation in planning decisions.

Rachel Maclean: In line with the practice of successive administration, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Renters (Reform) Bill

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will hold a discussion with the Leader of the House on securing a date for Second Reading of the Renters (Reform) Bill before the end of the current Parliamentary session.

Rachel Maclean: I refer to my Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 198928 on 18 September 2023.

Office for Local Government

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure the independence of the Office of Local Government.

Lee Rowley: It is intended that Oflog has a degree of separation from government to support its objectives, and we will continue to facilitate that set up in the months ahead.The Secretary of State has already appointed an independent chair, Lord (Amyas) Morse. Lord Morse has, and will continue to, provide independent advice, support, and challenge to Oflog's strategic vision, functions, and delivery priorities.Oflog's governance structures and processes will be communicated transparently, and the department will adopt mechanisms and governance arrangements to facilitate Oflog's work.

Public Buildings: Concrete

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a list of all publicly owned buildings that (a) contain and (b) are suspected to contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 197493 on 11 September 2023.

Question

Dame Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support leaseholders with the costs of cladding removal.

Lee Rowley: The Government has provided multiple avenues of funding to address dangerous cladding in all eligible residential buildings above 11m in England.Where developers have signed the developer remediation contract, they will remove dangerous cladding themselves, or reimburse the Government where government funds have already been used to do so. For other buildings, the Cladding Safety Scheme will ensure that cladding is removed where necessary at no cost to leaseholders.

Ministry of Defence

Navy: Greenwich Hospital

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the total value of assets owned by Greenwich Hospital naval charity.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Greenwich Hospital audited accounts are laid before Parliament annually, as required under the Greenwich Hospital Act 1865. They are also published on the Greenwich Hospital website: https://www.greenwichhospital.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Greenwich%20Hospital%20Accounts%20%26%20Travers%20Foundation%202020-21%20(Certified).pdf

Royal Hospital School

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 195928 on Navy: Greenwich Hospital, if he will make it his policy to modernise the formal governance of the Royal Hospital School.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is the intention to reform and modernise the governance of Greenwich Hospital, including the governance of the Royal Hospital School. This will require primary legislation.

Navy: Greenwich Hospital

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 195928 on Navy: Greenwich Hospital, whether he has plans to meet with the Director of Greenwich Hospital to discuss child safeguarding.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Director of Greenwich Hospital ensures the Secretary of State is appraised of all matters relating to the provision of education at the Royal Hospital School, including safeguarding. As proprietor of the school, the Director of Greenwich Hospital will continue to ensure the Secretary of State receives all relevant information promptly.

Navy: Greenwich Hospital

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 195928 on Navy: Greenwich Hospital, on how many occasions did his predecessor meet with the Director of Greenwich Hospital.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The former Secretary of State did not have the opportunity to meet the new Director of Greenwich Hospital before he stepped down.

Question

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of surface fleet maintenance support contracts tendered under the Naval Support Integrated Global Network on the profitability of existing packages.

James Cartlidge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 July 2023 to Question 193697.Portsmouth Dockyard (docx, 15.3KB)

Seismic Monitoring

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when was the last occasion on which information from the Eskdalemuir Array was used to inform policy.

James Cartlidge: The Eskdalemuir Array is a commitment made by the United Kingdom to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Its monitoring for nuclear tests continually contributes to Government policy.

Type 23 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 198616 on Type 23 Frigates, whether that funding was used in the most recent refurbishments of (a) HMS Somerset, (b) HMS Argyll, (c) HMS Iron Duke and (d) HMS Westminster.

James Cartlidge: The £37 million funding spent to date in financial year 2023-24 has been utilised on HM Ships Iron Duke, Westminster, Argyll, St Albans and Sutherland. No Upkeep funding has been expended on HMS Somerset to date in this financial year.

Veterans: Identity Cards

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the rollout of the Veteran's ID Card.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Veterans' Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete, with all Service leavers since December 2018 automatically receiving a HM Armed Forces Veteran Card as part of their discharge process. As of July 2023, phase 1 has delivered over 71,000 cards to Service leavers. Phase 2 aims to extend access to the recognition card scheme to veterans who left their Service before December 2018. Continued progress has been made towards the launch of a new digital verification service, which is currently undergoing testing, to enable the phase 2 rollout.With around 2 million veterans in the UK, we are focused on building the technology and processes to deal with large volumes of card applications accurately and securely. We expect to begin issuing cards to veterans later this year. A paper-based application process will also be made available for veterans who are unable to use the online service.

Department for Business and Trade

Business: Debts

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the regional spread of business debt in (a) each of the last three years and (b) during the cost of living crisis.

Kevin Hollinrake: The regional spread of debt among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has remained broadly the same over the past three years. The following figures are taken from UK Finance data and are taken as a share of the value of loan facilities of SMEs in Great Britain.Between Q2 2020 and Q4 2021, regional shares of SME lending:· Increased in London (21% to 22%)· Decreased in the South East (14% to 13%), and North West (11% to 10%)· Stayed the same in the South West (11%), East Midlands (6%), West Midlands (9%), East of England (7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7%), North East (3%), Wales (4%), and Scotland (8%)Between Q1 2022 to Q2 2023, regional shares of SME lending:· Increased in London (21% to 22%)· Decreased in the North West (11% to 10%)· Stayed the same in the South East (14%), South West (11%), East Midlands (6%), West Midlands (9%), East of England (7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7%), North East (3%), Wales (4%) and Scotland (8%)Government is helping more businesses get the finance they need through the next generation of Nations and Regions Investment Funds, which will provide £1.6 billion of debt and equity finance to small businesses outside London and the South East.The first of these funds launched in the South West of England in July 2023.

USA: Visits Abroad

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's publication entitled BEIS: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel, meetings, January to March 2023, published on 20 July 2023, what was spent on (a) flights and (b) accommodation during the Minister of State for Industry's visit to San Francisco on 7 to 11 February 2023.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's publication entitled DIT ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, published 20 July 2023, what was spent on (a) flights and (b) accommodation during the Minister of State for Investment's visit to San Francisco on 10 to 14 January 2023.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The total cost of flights and accommodation for the Minister of State for Industry's visit to San Francisco from 7 to 11 February 2023 is included within the "BEIS ministerial travel, January to March 2023" transparency data published on GOV.UK.The total cost of flights and accommodation for the Minister for Investment's visit to San Francisco from 10 to 14 January 2023 is included within the "DIT Ministers' Overseas Travel: January to February 2023" transparency data published on GOV.UK.

Public Houses: Government Assistance

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support pubs.

Kevin Hollinrake: We understand the many challenges pubs are facing. The Government is supporting pubs with business rates relief, the Brexit Pubs Guarantee, and help with energy costs. We are also working across Government to identify opportunities to ease regulatory and licensing burdens.We continue to work with businesses, including members of the Hospitality Sector Council, to deliver our 2021 Hospitality Strategy, which aims to support the sector's recovery from COVID-19 and improve longer term resilience.

Ministry of Justice

Wandsworth Prison: Prisoners

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the largest number of prisoners held in Wandsworth Prison was in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: A table providing the largest number of prisoners held in Wandsworth Prison for each year since 2010 has been provided below.YearLargest number of prisoners held in Wandsworth Prison2010166920111682201215482013154120141651201516452016162420171612201814982019153720201567202115472022162220231630

Lancaster Farms Prison: Prison Officers

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of shift slots at HMP Lancaster Farms were unfilled in (a) June, (b) July and (c) August 2023.

Damian Hinds: The information requested could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Probation Service: Recruitment

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many additional Probation Service staff he expects to recruit by 2024.

Damian Hinds: Between 19 September 2023 and 31 December 2023 and based on latest monthly returns from the business, the Probation Service is anticipating recruiting a gross figure of 843 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) staff. These additional staff include permanent joiners and fixed-term appointments. However, this figure is likely to change in future months as updated information on recruitment progress is made. No trainee Probation Officer recruitment is included as intakes generally start in early March and September each year.

Marriage: Humanism

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of legally recognising humanist marriages.

Mike Freer: In July 2019 we invited the Law Commission to undertake a wholesale review on weddings law in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Law Commission report was published in July 2022 and contains 57 recommendations for extensive legislative reform. The Government is carefully considering these recommendations, and a response will be published in due course.

Young Offenders: Neurodiversity

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support young people in the youth estate with clinical neurodiversity conditions.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to provide additional support to young people in custody in the youth estate with clinical neurodiversity conditions.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to help ensure that all Prison Officers in the youth estate receive training to support young people with clinical neurodiversity conditions; and what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of that training.

Mike Freer: The Youth Custody Service has an individualised, trauma-informed, multi-agency approach to the care and management of children and young people in custody, which is responsive to the needs of each child and young person. The Framework for Integrated Care (also known as “SECURE STAIRS”), developed in partnership by NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Department for Education, provides for the training of staff in the youth estate to deliver more developmentally-attuned, psychologically-informed care, based on comprehensive assessments to ensure that all children’s and young people’s needs are identified. Each child and young person in custody will have a case formulation plan, which is shaped by input from all agencies involved. This collaborative approach ensures all services are responsive to each child’s needs, including any associated with clinical neurodiversity conditions. As part of a wider HMPPS campaign covering sites in both the adult and youth estates, new neurodiversity managers have so far been recruited to three of the under-18 young offender institutions. Neurodiversity managers will support with identification and strategies to meet the needs of neurodiverse children in custody, ensuring knowledge, skills and support strategies are cascaded throughout the establishments they work in. As part of their training to become youth justice workers, all prison officers in the youth estate receive training in SECURE STAIRS. Although neurodiversity conditions are not specifically covered, topics dealt with include children and young people’s brain development, and attachment issues; and managing trauma. NHS England supports continuous professional development of staff by providing training materials for each site to deliver periodic refresher training for staff, and staff learning is evaluated to ensure the effectiveness of the training.

Young Offender Institutions: Buildings

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the level of presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the youth estate.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will conduct an audit of the quality of physical infrastructure in the youth secure estate.

Mike Freer: Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. We are currently undertaking an estate-wide programme of condition surveys of public sector prisons, including the youth secure estate. This will give us a detailed and up-to-date picture of the fabric condition and resilience of our asset base at each site.

Young Offender Institutions: Learning Disability

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress HM Prisons and Probation Service has made on reviewing its screening processes for learning difficulties and disabilities in the youth secure estate.

Mike Freer: Children and young people who may have learning difficulties and/or disabilities are referred to their site’s special educational needs co-ordinator for screening. Any findings will be reflected in children and young people’s custody support plans, which will be amended and shared with all teachers and professionals that work with them during their time in custody. If a child enters custody with pre-existing concerns or diagnoses, the site’s special educational needs co-ordinator will also liaise with youth offending team workers in the community, to ensure that their education, health, and care plans are updated; and that any further screening outcomes are recorded and shared with relevant stakeholders.

Young Offender Institutions: Special Educational Needs

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Special Educational Needs Coordinators were employed in the youth secure estate in each reporting year since 2010.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many special educational needs coordinators have left employment in the youth secure estate in each reporting year since 2010.

Mike Freer: A special educational needs (SEN) co-ordinator (known in Wales as an Additional Learning Needs (ALN) co-ordinator) is a member of staff employed by a secure establishment or its education provider. The co-ordinator is responsible for assessing, planning, and monitoring the progress of children with special educational needs and disabilities. Co-ordinators provide teachers with individual support strategies that facilitate children’s and young people’s holistic development.The table below provides information in relation to SEN and ALN co-ordinators at the five young offender institutions (YOIs): SEN/ALN Co-ordinators at Young Offender Institutions in England and Wales  2010201120122013201420152016In post5555555Leaversi11100002017201820192020202120222023In post5555555Leavers10011000 1 A SEN or ALN co-ordinator who leaves HMPPS or one of the YOIs’ education providers Complete data in relation to secure training centres, some of which closed during the period in question, is not available. Appointment of SEN or ALN co-ordinators at secure children’s homes is the responsibility of the local authorities that employ them.

Young Offenders: Education

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has key performance indicators for senior management teams on levels of provision of prison education for young offenders.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of young offenders that have had their educational records lost when being transferred within the youth secure estate since 2010.

Mike Freer: In young offender institutions, key performance indicators include a requirement for delivery of 75 per cent of planned education hours. Each week, education providers in young offender institutions are expected to deliver 15 hours of education classes. Secure Children’s Homes, which are operated under the supervision of the Department for Education, are not included in this key performance indicator Education provision at Oakhill Secure Training Centre is managed under the contract with the provider, G4S plc, which specifies a minimum of 25 hours per week of education and enrichment. We do not hold information about any loss of educational records that might occur during transfer.

Ministry of Justice: Incentives

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2022 to Question 97592 on Ministry of Justice: Incentives, what the total value was of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for his core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.

Mike Freer: Bonuses paid out as non-cash vouchers is a standard practice across government. The Edenred contract came into effect in 2017 which allows departments access to non-cash vouchers for staff. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) appointed Edenred from the CCS Framework, to deliver Employee Benefits which included non-cash vouchers. In addition to this, in November 2020 the MoJ procured an enhanced Employee Benefits package with Xexec (now Reward Gateway), which also included non-cash vouchers. The total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff as performance related bonuses (combined through Edenred & Reward Gateway), in the financial year 2022-23 equated to £5,860,748. These figures represent the total value of non-cash reward and recognition awarded to MoJ employees, including its 34 agencies, over the given period. Attracting, retaining, and motivating highly skilled individuals is essential for the Civil Service to deliver for the British people. This is why pay must be fair and competitive as well as affordable to the taxpayer. Performance-related bonuses and vouchers are a key part of this.

Sexual Offences: Criminal Proceedings

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has held recent discussions with the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office on guidance for judges on handling cases involving rape and sexual assault.

Mike Freer: The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) is the independent statutory body which supports the Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice in their joint responsibility for judicial discipline. JCIO’s statutory remit is to deal with complaints of misconduct made against judicial office holders made by individuals. The JCIO is not responsible for judicial training. To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lady Chief Justice, Senior President of Tribunals and Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. The Lady Chief Justice is responsible for issuing guidance to the judiciary in England and Wales, and for the provision of its training, which is delivered by the Judicial College. All judges who hear criminal cases involving allegations of rape and serious sexual offences are required to attend specialist training provided by the Judicial College. The Judicial College also provides guidance in relation to cases involving allegations of rape and sexual assault in the Crown Court Compendium and Equal Treatment Bench Book, which are available at the following links:Crown Court Compendium - June 2023 - Courts and Tribunals JudiciaryEqual Treatment Bench Book - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Personal Independence Payment applicants are awaiting a tribunal hearing.

Mike Freer: Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. As of 30 June (the latest period for which data are available), the total number of Personal Independence Payment1 appeals awaiting a tribunal hearing was 31,276 (7,111 of which are listed for hearing and 24,165 are ready to list). Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals), which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments). Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available. The data may differ slightly from that of the published statistics as these data were run on a different date.

Cremation: Welsh Language

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Welsh language translation on (a) question five and (b) part four of the cremation form one used by funeral directors; and whether he has plans to alter the translations.

Mike Freer: The Government is aware of an error in the translation of question 5 which sits under part 4 of the Welsh form Cremation 1. We are in the process of correcting this error, and we expect the revised form to be available shortly.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Costs

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average cost of obtaining a transcript of (a) court and (b) tribunal proceedings in each of the last three years.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many orders to obtain a transcript of (a) court and (b) tribunal proceedings were made to HM Courts and Tribunals in the last 12 months.

Mike Freer: HMCTS does not retain data on the number of applications made to either the Court or Tribunal to obtain a transcript. HMCTS contracts with suppliers to provide transcripts and they hold data on orders that they receive. The following number of orders were received by suppliers in the 12 month period Sept 2022 to Aug 2023:a) Court – 42,099b) Tribunal - 278 The average cost of obtaining a transcript in each of the last three years is: FamilyCrownTribunalSept 2020- Aug 2021£220.85£100.56£240.54Sept 2021- Aug 2022£225.06£105.17£204.55Sept 2022- Aug 2023£205.33£96.11£212.45

Young Offender Institutions: Recruitment

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on recruiting for Heads of Education, Skills and Work roles within the youth secure estate; and whether these roles are graded as equivalent to governors.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Heads of Education, Skills and Work employed within the youth secure estate have completed training on (a) engaging with the commercial sector, (b) the Dynamic Purchasing System and (c) in-contract management with education providers as of 19 September 2023.

Damian Hinds: The Head of Education, Skills and Work (HoESW) is a new Head of Function (Governor) role, forming part of a prison’s Senior Management Team. Postholders have leadership experience from the education sector, many of whom were senior teachers. They are responsible for leading on the design and delivery of education, skills and work functions to improve prisoner education and employment outcomes on release. We have made great progress recruiting HoESW, with over 100 already in post. This includes all five roles being filled in the Youth Custody Estate.A comprehensive induction and training programme has been designed to support postholders embed within prisons, improve delivery of education, skills and work services, and maximise related outcomes for prisoners. This includes all the areas highlighted by the hon. Member for Lewisham East. The induction and training programme is being delivered over September and October. This programme is mandatory for all postholders, including those working in the Youth Custody Estate.

Prisons: Drug Seizures

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the volume of illegal drugs found in prisons between (a) 2013 and 2017 and (b) 2018 and 2022.

Damian Hinds: The number of incidents where drugs are found in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the incidents data tool.a) Between 2013 and 2017, there were 41,354 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.b) Between 2018 and 2022. There were 92,130 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.It is important to consider with incidents of drug finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons.Delivery of the £100m Security Investment Programme was completed in March 2022 and included measures to prevent the smuggling of illicit items such as drugs into prisons. The Investment included deployment of Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites and 75 additional X-ray body scanners, giving full coverage across the closed adult male prison estate.

Secure Schools

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many secure schools for youth offenders have been opened since 2010.

Damian Hinds: The first Secure School is due to open in Spring 2024.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Broadband: Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of competition in the fibre broadband sector in Scotland.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom, published in 2019, states that we want to see regulation that incentivises network investment and ensures fair and effective competition between new and existing network operators. Government and Ofcom have progressed multiple interventions to improve competition in the UK broadband sector, for example by providing competitors with effective access to Openreach’s ducts and poles. These interventions also benefit Scotland, since telecoms is a reserved matter. Based on our pro-competition policies we now have a thriving market in the UK of over 100 providers investing nearly £40bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the country. The UK gigabit capable network now stands at c.78.0%, up from one in ten in November 2019, and the coverage in Scotland stands at c.71.5%, up from less than one in ten in November 2019*.*Thinkbroadband data

Attorney General

Attorney General: Remote Working

Julian Knight: To ask the Attorney General, what their Departments policy is on Civil Servants in their Department working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.

Michael Tomlinson: The Attorney General's Office (AGO) pay policies are negotiated by the Government Legal Department (GLD) and they do not have a policy on Civil Servants working from home and receiving the London Weighting Allowance.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Electricity: Carbon Emissions

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the potential increase in (a) green levies, (b) market balancing and transmission costs and (c) other non-commodity costs that will be required to meet the 2035 target to decarbonise the electricity system; what assumptions her Department has made in making these estimates; and if she will make a statement.

Andrew Bowie: The Department has produced a range of whole economy costs estimates to support decisions about energy transition and produces value for money assessments as part of every major decision. Minimising cost to consumers is at the heart of our strategy to deliver a reliable and decarbonised electricity system by 2035. The best way of protecting households and businesses is by lowering the costs of the energy we consume and reducing the volumes used. This means increasing energy efficiency and building out a low-cost, low-carbon energy system which reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.

Electricity Generation

Sir Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when she plans to respond to the recommendations on (a) a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, (b) lump sum payments for individual households close to new lines and (c) other issues in the Winser report on accelerating electricity transmission network deployment; and if she will make a statement.

Andrew Bowie: The Government welcomes the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s report and will publish an Action Plan in response by the end of this year. In his speech on Net Zero on 20 September, the Prime Minister announced that the government will shortly bring forward reforms to energy infrastructure including setting out the UK’s first spatial plan. Government wants to ensure communities hosting transmission network infrastructure can benefit from supporting the delivery of cheaper, secure and low-carbon energy for Great Britain. We consulted on this earlier this year and are developing guidance, which we intend to publish in 2023.

Hydroelectric Power: Storage

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pumped hydro storage on base load requirements in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

Andrew Bowie: In 2021 we commissioned external analysis from AFRY,[1] to understand the role that long-duration energy storage could play in the system across Great Britain, how much may be required over different periods of time and the benefits of different technologies including pumped hydro storage. The analysis highlighted that storage technologies were able to effectively address the increasingly seasonal balancing requirements that emerge in a weather-driven electricity system. [1] Benefits of long-duration electricity storage (2022), BEIS. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefits-of-long-duration-electricity-storage

Iron and Steel: India

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her predecessor had discussions with (a) his Indian counterpart and (b) other stakeholders on the production or procurement of steel when he visited India 9 -23 March 2023.

Graham Stuart: The then Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero visited Mumbai and New Delhi from 19-22 March 2023. The then Secretary of State did not discuss the production or procurement of steel with India’s Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh. He met a range of other government and business representatives during the visit, where discussion topics included the need to accelerate the pace of the transition to clean energy in hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement.

Boilers

Mrs Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when her Department plans to publish the outcomes of its consultation on Improving boiler standards and efficiency.

Graham Stuart: The Government will publish its response to the consultation, Improving Boiler Standards and Efficiency, in due course.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Powering Up Britain policy paper, on what date that paper was finalised by her Department.

Graham Stuart: The Government published Powering Up Britain on the 30 March 2023.

Energy: Conservation

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the total number of breaches of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in each year since 2019.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (‘the PRS Regulations’) confers the power to enforce the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards to local authorities for private rented properties. The PRS Regulations do not require enforcement authorities to publish or make available details of their enforcement activities and they are not required to report this to the Government. It is upon the discretion of the domestic enforcement authorities to publish compliance penalties on the Private Rented Sector Exemptions Register.

Energy: Standing Charges

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of standing charges in the last 12 months.

Amanda Solloway: For financial year 2021-22, an investment of £100m by EDF in the Sizewell C project in January 2022 was provided by the Government through the Combined Option Agreement. In the same financial year, the Government provided a further £0.24m of innovation funding in 2021/22 to Sizewell C, together with partner organisations, through Phase 1 of the Direct Air Capture and other Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies competition, part of the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. In the financial year 2022-23, the Government’s planned expenditure on developing the Sizewell C project is £860m, with a further £0.5m provided as part of Phase 2 of the Direct Air Capture and other Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies competition.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Plastics

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much her Department has spent on plastic (a) pens, (b) cups and (c) bags for promotion and marketing in each of the last five years.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, established on 7 February 2023, has not incurred any spend relating to plastic pens, cups and bags for promotion and marketing purposes to date.

Nuclear Power: Uranium

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the situation in Niger on levels of supply of uranium for civil nuclear power.

Andrew Bowie: Nuclear fuel and uranium for the UK generating fleet is procured by the operator, EDF Energy. EDFE have confirmed they are monitoring the situation to ensure no impact on UK supply. EDFE procure uranium from a variety of mining operators in a number of countries, including Niger, Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. Whilst the UK is not dependent on Niger for nuclear fuel, we recognise the importance of international security of supply of uranium and the Government is committed to working closely with industry, fuel suppliers and our international partners to achieve this.

Energy: Hospitality Industry

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2023 to Question 198559 on Energy: Hospitality Industry, whether she has received representations from (a) UK Hospitality, (b) the British Beer and Pub Association, or (c) hospitality businesses about energy companies refusing to supply (i) pubs, (ii) restaurants and (iii) other hospitality premises.

Amanda Solloway: The Department regularly answers correspondence on issues related to the retail energy market, including those raised by representatives from the hospitality industry. The Department regularly meets with stakeholders from this industry. On 12th September, I met again with the UK Hospitality CEO, Kate Nicholls, where we discussed UK Hospitality’s views on the Ofgem review into the non-domestic energy market.

Members: Correspondence

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has received the correspondence sent by the hon. Member for Halifax on 6 April 2023 with reference ZA35937.

Amanda Solloway: I replied to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 13 June.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Scotland

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure the adequate provision of (a) larger 19kg canisters and (b) other gas products by Calor Gas across the Highlands and rural Scotland ahead of winter 2023-24; and whether the Government has had recent discussions with Calor Gas on the provision of those products.

Graham Stuart: The Department regularly engages with the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply industry through its trade association Liquid Gas UK. There are several suppliers and Liquid Gas UK provide a postcode search facility to help consumers identify those closest to them (https://www.liquidgasuk.org/domestic/supplier-search). The major suppliers have assured the Department that there will be a sufficient supply of 19kg cylinders across the UK, including Scotland. The industry will also have additional stocks arriving over the coming months to account for increased demand over the winter.

Northern Ireland Office

Ulster Scots Language

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he is taking steps to promote (a) the usage and (b) education of the Ulster Scots language.

Mr Steve Baker: The Secretary of State has taken the Identity and Language Act 2022 through Parliament. The Act provides for the creation of a Commissioner for the Ulster Scots and the Ulster British Tradition, as agreed in the New Decade, New Approach deal. A principal aim of this Commissioner will be to enhance and develop the associated language, arts and literature, recognising that Ulster Scots does not just encompass a language but a people with distinct cultural and artistic traditions. Specifically, the Act places a duty on the NI Department of Education to encourage and facilitate the use and understanding of Ulster Scots in the education system.

Puffins: Rathlin Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Government is taking steps to help Rathlin Island protect its native puffin population.

Mr Steve Baker: Biodiversity, conservation and protection is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive and Ministers, it is for the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to advise on this topic.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Domestic Visits

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions (a) he and (b) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland visited a (i) Government Hub and (ii) ministerial office outside London in (A) 2022and(B)2023.

Mr Alister Jack: The information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Wales Office

Mark Drakeford

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when he last met the First Minister of Wales.

David T C Davies: I last met with the First Minister of Wales on Thursday 12 October, 2023.

Treasury

Mortgages: Interest Rates

Feryal Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of increases in mortgage interest rates on homeowners in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.

Andrew Griffith: The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, we recognise this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers. The Prime Minister has been clear, the best and most important way that we can keep costs and interest rates down for people is to halve inflation, and then return it to the 2% target. On Friday 23 June the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss how lenders will provide support for those who encounter problems keeping up with their mortgage payments. At this meeting, lenders agreed to a new Mortgage Charter to support borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments that was published on 26 June. The Charter sets out the standards signatory lenders will adopt when helping their customers, including new flexibilities to help customers manage their mortgage payments over a short period. The Charter is in addition to the significant safeguards already in place for consumers in the mortgage market. Financial Conduct Authority rules require lenders to engage individually with their customers who are struggling or who are worried about their payments in order to provide tailored support. The Government has also taken measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, and the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).

Financial Services: Disclosure of Information

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to bring forward legislation to implement the sustainability disclosure requirements regime.

Andrew Griffith: Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) is a framework to facilitate and simplify the flow of robust, decision useful information between corporates, consumers, investors, and capital markets. Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy contains the plans of both the Government and the regulators to take SDR forward, building on global best practice and leading standards. This includes the Government's plans to establish an endorsement process that will assess the suitability of standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) for use by UK companies. The UK has already implemented mandatory Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) requirements across the economy, and the Financial Conduct Authority is taking forward further Sustainability Disclosure Requirements for authorised financial services firms and listed companies under their existing powers.

Credit Cards: Fraud

Andrew Western: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives of the banking sector and (b) consumer bodies on the provision of guidance for ensuring people who have been issued with Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System marker on their bank accounts are notified of that circumstance.

Andrew Western: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will take steps to review the transparency of the process by which credit industry fraud avoidance system issues markers onto customer bank accounts.

Andrew Griffith: The Chancellor of the Exchequer engages with a number of a key stakeholders to discuss policy matters. Cifas is a fraud prevention service offering individuals and organisations help in combating the growing threat of fraud and financial crime. In 2022 Cifas members prevented fraudulent conduct totalling £1.3 billion, protecting people, businesses and the public finances from losses and wider harm. To use the database, a Cifas member must operate within the terms of the National Fraud Database Handbook – a guide that sets out eight Principles of use with accompanying guidance. These Principles and guidance describe the controls in place to protect the data on the database and ensure that the highest possible standard of fairness and transparency are observed. Subjects have a right to know how data will be used and how any decisions related to them have been made, and can file a data subject access request (DSAR) to do this. More information on this can be found on the Cifas website. If an individual believes that a Cifas marker has been incorrectly assigned they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the Cifas database for them to review. If they do not remove the marker then the individual can go directly to Cifas. The individual can also apply to have a further review conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Mortgages: Newport West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of increases in mortgage interest rates on homeowners in Newport West.

Andrew Griffith: The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, we recognise this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers. The Prime Minister has been clear, the best and most important way that we can keep costs and interest rates down for people is to halve inflation, and then return it to the 2% target. On Friday 23 June the Chancellor met with mortgage lenders, UK Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss how lenders will provide support for those who encounter problems keeping up with their mortgage payments. At this meeting, lenders agreed to a new Mortgage Charter to support borrowers struggling with their mortgage payments that was published on 26 June. The Charter sets out the standards signatory lenders will adopt when helping their customers, including new flexibilities to help customers manage their mortgage payments over a short period. The Charter is in addition to the significant safeguards already in place for consumers in the mortgage market. Financial Conduct Authority rules require lenders to engage individually with their customers who are struggling or who are worried about their payments in order to provide tailored support. The Government has also taken measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans, protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, and the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS).

Cryptocurrencies

Julie Elliott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to encourage cryptocurrency companiestooperate in the UK.

Andrew Griffith: In April 2022, the government set out ambitious plans for the UK to harness the benefits of crypto technologies. It is taking forward a number of measures to both foster innovation and implement a regulatory framework that encourages responsible participation in cryptoasset markets. HM Treasury recently finished consulting on wide-ranging proposals for cryptoasset regulation, aimed at placing the UK at the forefront of crypto innovation and responding to risks in the market. These proposals seek to provide the regulatory clarity needed for long-term investment, innovation, consumer protection, and financial stability for cryptoassets firms to operate in the UK. The government will publish a response to the consultation in due course.

Leader of the House

Government Bills

Jim McMahon: To ask the Leader of the House, how many Government Bills have been withdrawn in each year since 2010.

Penny Mordaunt: Parliament has been informed on each occasion a bill has been withdrawn. Information on the bills withdrawn in each session is available on the Parliament website at: https://bills.parliament.uk/.